Courage, Bravery, And Lost
by Chuu
Summary: I'm alive! New chapter uploaded: Yuffie's nightmare world has come true and it's up to Reno to save her from it!
1. My Ressuruction

Chapter One  
  
Oh sure, it was over. As they thought. But they were way wrong. AVALANCHE had only done part of the battle so far. They HAD defeated Sephiroth, but what was ahead of them was the rest of the old battle. And that is where my fanfic begins! \^o^/  
  
Rufus' eyes snapped opened at once. Where was he? All he could make out were blurry figures. He suddenly did a mental check. The only thing he could remember was a yellow beam coming straight at him and then an explosion. He sat up. Instantly he wished he didn't do that. He grabbed his head in pain and screamed. This was way more then a headache. The searing pain told him that he was badly injured. Stiffened, he layed back down on his back. In the background he could hear sirens screaming, and had a feeling they were going after him. Then he noticed someone was talking to him.  
  
"Mr. President!"  
  
He tried to straighten his vision to see who was trying to speak to him.  
  
"Rufus! Hey! It's me! Are you spacing out??"  
  
"Shut up, puppet-boy! He obviously doesn't want to deal with you!"  
  
Rufus then could finally make out who was there. The blurry figures turned out to be his 2d and 3rd in commands, Reeve and Scarlet.  
  
"What happened..?" Rufus asked them, dazed out still from falling sixty-some stories.  
  
"Well.. Ultimate WEAPON went bezerk and started blasting Midgar, then it hit your office with a beam and. we don't know what happened then." Reeve replied.  
  
"BUT.. At least you're safe!" Scarlet said, optimistically.  
  
"Gee.. Thanks." Then Rufus looked around. "Wait. What the hell happened to Midgar??" he asked.  
  
"Meteor.. It hit." Reeve replied.  
  
"I see." Rufus pondered the thought of what his options to do now were. He could always ressuruct Midgar. But then again, that could be a bad idea in many ways. But, whoever said he couldn't ressuruct ShinRa? He grinned at the thought of all the mako energy that the meteor gave off.  
  
Reeve looked at Rufus skeptically. What did he plan on doing? He decided to ask. But before he could, Scarlet did.  
  
"Rufus, why the hell are you grinning like a maniac??"  
  
Rufus noticed this and stopped, and then he looked over to Scarlet fiercely. "Don't you know how much mako energy that meteor could give off?? We'd be richer then ever! Stupid fool, how could you not see that??" he lectured, glaring at her the whole time.  
  
Scarlet backed down, now both embarrassed and stunned by her president's outburst.  
  
Reeve, of course, saw a terrific downside to this. AVALANCHE would have to act again, and that meant that he'd be caught in the middle. Again. He could stop this, could he?  
  
He had to act fast.  
  
"But what about AVALANCHE?? Shouldn't we just stop and think up something new?" Reeve asked.  
  
Rufus stood up, surprising Scarlet and Reeve that he could, and flicked back his hair. "No problem, we'll just have the Turks take care of them." He replied casually, as if he had it planned out the whole time.  
  
This caught Reeve offguard, however, and was at a loss for words. Scarlet stood up too, followed by Reeve, and then they all walked towards the helicopter, Reeve last, lagging a little bit, and it took off shortly. Reeve was now trying to talk himself into telling AVALANCHE about this.  
  
  
  
"WHY should I listen to you on this?" Barret exclaimed. "I won the fight fair an' square! Damn foo'!" then he pounded his fist on the table.  
  
"Your arm was DOWN on the table for ten seconds!!" Cloud yelled back at him  
  
Obviously they had gotten restless and decided to take up armwresteling. Not a good idea, though, because they always fought.  
  
Barret was about to snap back at him, when, he heard something on the tv that stook out like a sore thumb. His eyes widened, his face contorted with rage, he squeezed Cloud's hand so much that he screamed for him to let go. Then Barret slammed Cloud's arm as hard as he could on the table and let go, standing up and glaring at the tv. After examining to see if his arm was ok, Cloud looked over to the tv curiously.  
  
".he was found unharmed with just a few scratches. Strange thing is was how could Rufus ShinRa survive such a fall? Scientist, Hojo, thinks that it's because of the mako he infused into Rufus when."  
  
Barret screamed in frustration and brought his massive fist back down onto the table so hard it broke it in half.  
  
  
  
"AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHH!!!!!"  
  
Tifa jumped, and then she looked at the floor, wondering what had happened. When she saw Cloud come up in the pinball machine, he had a look of pure malice in his eyes.  
  
"What's wrong.?" Tifa asked with sympathetic eyes.  
  
Cloud stammered. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. Just when he was about to answer, Barret came up, furious as ever, and answered for him.  
  
"THE FUCKING BASTARD'S STILL ALIVE!!" Barret cursed. Tifa looked questionably at him and then he answered her yet again. "SHINRA IS STILL IN TACT!!".  
  
Tifa stood there for a second, not knowing what to say. Then she promptly dropped the dish she had been washing, and it shattered into tiny pieces all over the floor.  
  
"I.I.." Tifa began. "I thought.. we could have peace for once."  
  
"Don't think the fight is over just yet." Barret said, harshly.  
  
"Well, lets get everyone else back here, then." Cloud said, leaning onto the wall and resting his elbow against the bar. They nodded.  
  
"Sure." Tifa said, not too happy. "I'll go call them." And then walked away.  
  
The thing was, that she didn't want to ruin everyone else's peace. But she did know that they needed as much help as they could get. But still. If there was only a way. She sighed to herself and picked up her PHS. The first one she would call would be the one they gave all their materia to, no doubt.  
  
  
  
Yuffie looked up at the mountains overhead. The statues were so tall. She could hardly make it out, but she could swear that she saw someone up there. She had to go find out what it was.  
  
She grabbed the conformer from the strap on her back, and then packed all her potions, ethers, and elixirs that she had. Then she started up the mountains, prepared for any danger that she should have to face.  
  
But she certainly wasn't prepared for what was about to happen.  
  
Someone grabbed her from behind, she let out a yelp, and the person who had her ripped the conformer out of her hands and started dragging her somewhere. She struggled wildly, but she couldn't get away. Then whoever had her brought her face to face with their boss. She recognized the boss right away.  
  
And she screamed as loud as humanly possible.  
  
  
  
"Hmm.. she must be out. Oh well, we'll pick her up with the Highwind later." Tifa said, with a shrug, and then started dialing Cid's number.  
  
  
  
"So did you call everyone?" Cloud asked. Everyone was there in the Highwind, but someone was missing.  
  
"I couldn't get Yuffie. We'll have to pick her up." Tifa said.  
  
Cid nodded. Then he turned to the pilot. "Go to Wutai." He said. The pilot nodded, and then Cid turned back to everyone else, shaking his head and muttering, "Damn that kid's a lot more trouble then she's worth."  
  
"I hate to say this, but she has our materia." Red said. "I would say it is wise to get her right away."  
  
Cid just scratched the back of his head.  
  
"What are we going to do once we get Yuffie back?" Vincent asked, walking up to the group, reloading his gun.  
  
"Dunno." Barret said. "We'll have to find out some info from Cait Sith."  
  
"Good idea." Cloud said.  
  
"We're arriving Wutai, sir!" the pilot said to Cid.  
  
Cid nodded. "Good! Land next to the town."  
  
"Aye aye!" the pilot said, saluting, and then went back to steering.  
  
  
  
Everyone walked up to Yuffie's house. Something was different about it. It seemed deserted for some reason. Tifa walked up to the door and ventured to knock on it.  
  
Nothing happened.  
  
Tifa shrugged, and then tried again.  
  
Still there was no answer.  
  
A little annoyed, Tifa pounded on the door.  
  
There was still no response.  
  
"GOD DAMNIT!" Barret yelled, then hit the door HARD. "KID ARE YOU EVEN IN THERE??!!"  
  
"You'll probably scare her." Cloud said.  
  
"Good." Cid answered, taking a drag from his cigarette. "The kid needs some discipline anyway so it wouldn't do her any harm."  
  
Tifa shot Cid a cold glare and then she opened the door slightly. Much to her surprise, it was unlocked!  
  
The first thing they all noticed was a couple or so shirukens and star-darts scattered across the floor, and a few ethers and potions too.  
  
"What's this?" Red asked, sniffing a piece of paper on the ground.  
  
Cloud went over to it and picked it up. "It's dated today." Cloud said. "It's a note. It says, 'Dad, I'll be up in the mountains today, Shake, DO NOT mess with my stuff, signed, Yuffie'... She's up in the mountains, I guess." Cloud observed.  
  
"Go figure." Cid joked.  
  
"Well then, foo's!" Barret said, pointing his gunarm up into the air. "Les' go to da mountains!"  
  
Then they were off out of Yuffie's house in a flash.  
  
  
  
"WHY DO YOU ALWAYS PICK ON ME YOU ASSHOLE?!" Yuffie screamed.  
  
She was tied to the Da Chou statue yet again.  
  
And guess who's fault it was?  
  
Yuffie glared down at Don Corneo with a look that could of killed a dragon. But the Don was not phased by it.  
  
"Oooh! You haven't changed!" Don cooed.  
  
Yuffie looked truly disgusted by now. She kept trying to get away, to break loose from straps that held her. She would of fallen if not for them, but it was a hell of a lot better then being stuck with. HIM! She would commit suicide if needed.  
  
  
  
Tifa's head jerked into the direction of the scream. It startled everyone else, also. They all knew that scream. Well, more or less it was probably like a shriek.  
  
It was Yuffie's.  
  
"Yuffie! She needs our help!" Tifa said.  
  
Cloud and the others drew their weapons. Then they all ran towards the scream.  
  
  
  
Don suddenly realized people were coming up the mountain trail. He looked down, glaring. And then he noticed that one of them was Cloud.  
  
"ACK! YOU AGAIN?!" Don asked. The rest of AVALANCHE stopped dead in their tracks.  
  
"You fucking bitch! You're still fucking alive?!" Cid exclaimed.  
  
"That I am!" Don said. "EAT THIS!!!!" and then threw eggs at them. In mid air the eggs hatched, and then in front of them twelve dragons separated them from Don.  
  
Cloud brought his sword up, ready to attack. He slashed at the dragon that was closest to him, and it bellowed out, and then slashed its tail out at him, right in the shoulder. He grimaced, and then slashed it again, and it fell down onto a heap on the ground, dead as a doornail.  
  
"These little guys are pretty tough." Cloud said. "Split up and we can kill them easier!"  
  
"Gotcha." They all said in unison and went their separate ways.  
  
Cloud started slashing at another direction, well in the meanwhile everyone else worked on their own.  
  
Tifa punched one right in the gut. Caught offguard, it took a couple seconds to get back to its senses, but before it could do that, Tifa kicked it again in the stomach, and it went sprawling off the rock and onto the ground below. Then three more came and surrounded her. She powered up and cast Bolt3 on all of them with the combination of her all materia, but it wasn't enough. Soon one of the dragons got to its senses quicker then she had, and while she was beating on of the others, it lashed out at her. She fell to the ground, and then got back up, powering up for Ultima. But then another dragon was about to snap at her when Barret blew it away with a chain of bullets. Then Tifa unleashed Ultima and all the dragons in sight, even the ones the others were trying to kill, faded away.  
  
Don's face expressed pure horror. How could they always defeat even his most powerful monsters?? Even the dragons that he raised for the longest time! These were not your average people!  
  
Cloud and the others could tell exactly what he was thinking just by the way he was looking at them. He smirked. "That's right." He said. "You're dealing with AVALANCHE, now." And pointed to the rest of AVALANCHE.  
  
Yuffie looked exasperated. "Showoffs." she muttered.  
  
Just then Don laughed out loud. A helicopter started lowering to them. Everyone, especially Yuffie, gasped in horror.  
  
"You may of won the fight, but you've LOST the war!" Don said, grinning. One of the flunkies jumped out from the helicopter and forced a flailing Yuffie inside, kicking her in the process. Cloud lunged after Don as he started to get into the helicopter, his sword raised. But Don quickly moved out of the way and then the helicopter flew out of sight in less then a minute.  
  
Everyone else just stood there, looking into the direction it had gone.  
  
"FUCK!" Cid cursed, kicking a nearby rock. "Now we're gonna have to go save her puny little ass AGAIN!!"  
  
"Yeah. But we're going to need a little help." Vincent said.  
  
They turned to him.  
  
"I have to admit you are right, but what kind of help are you talking about?" Red asked.  
  
"The Turks." Vincent replied, coldly.  
  
~~~~  
  
Eeee.... A lil short, i know! But I'll make the chapters longer I promise! o.o; Please review! ;_; ~Chuu  
  
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	2. The Helletic Don Of The Slums

Chapter Two  
  
"Why would we want to help you?" Reno asked.  
  
They were in the Turtle's Paradise, no wonder, and that's the way AVALANCHE found the two turks. They were on vacation, and probably about half drunk. But when Reno saw one sight of them, he had gone completely sober in an instant.  
  
"Well you helped us last time we had this..erhm.." Cloud thought. "..This kind of problem. "  
  
"What do you mean?" Reno asked, curious. "Who kidnapped the brat this time?"  
  
"Same person." Cid replied, taking a drag from his cigarette.  
  
If Tifa knew better, she would of thought that she saw a faint shade of pale in Reno's and Rude's faces.  
  
"That guy's still alive?!" Reno exclaimed.  
  
"Apparently so." Red said.  
  
"Hmm.." Rude pondered. "How much will you pay us?"  
  
"Whatever's nescisary." Cloud answered.  
  
"And that would be.?" Reno asked. It was certainly no use beating around the bush.  
  
"Fine. 6 thousand gil." Cloud said.  
  
"Good. Fair amount." Reno observed. Then looked over at Cloud. "Let's see it."  
  
Cloud handed over 6 thousand gil. Reno took it.  
  
"Okay, spike." He said. "You got yourself a deal. We'll get the kid back."  
  
"All right." Cloud said. He turned to the others. "Let's go."  
  
Reno got up, followed by Rude, and they started leading AVALANCHE out of the bar. He twirled his nightstick idly and then ran into Elena.  
  
"Ack! Sorry, boss!" Elena said.  
  
"We got a job." Reno said, pointing his thumb over his shoulder at AVALANCHE.  
  
"What?! NO way!" Elena said, shaking her head.  
  
"They're paying us 6 thousand gil for retrieving that brat from Don Corneo again." Reno said.  
  
Elena's expression changed. "Grrr.. I wanna get revenge on that creep! I guess I'll come." She said, defeated.  
  
Then they started out again.  
  
Tifa shook her head slowly. Sometimes she wondered how she got herself stuck in these unforgettable situations.  
  
  
  
"Let."  
  
"Shut up kid I'm just following orders."  
  
"Me."  
  
"I said shut up!"  
  
"Out."  
  
"SHUT UP!!"  
  
"Of."  
  
"I SAID SHUT UP!!" Scotch hollered at Yuffie, turning around to face her.  
  
"Here!!!!" Yuffie finished.  
  
"NO! Why the hell would I do that??!!" Scotch asked.  
  
"Because if you don't then when I get out of here myself I'll have you all arrested!" Yuffie shot back.  
  
"You mean IF you get out of here. Which is a pretty BIG if!!" Scotch taunted.  
  
Yuffie grasped the bars of the door to her room and glared at him. "I AM GOING TO KILL YOU WHEN. WHEN I GET OUT OF HERE!!!" she yelled.  
  
"Ohhhh. I'm SO scared!" Scotch mocked. Yuffie tried to grab his neck so she could break it through the bars, but he jumped out of the way and shot her hand with his handgun. She let out a cry and fell to her knees, holding her hand.  
  
"Heh, be glad I didn't shoot you where it coulda killed you." Scotch said. Yuffie shot yet, another cold glare, for what seemed to be the thousandth time that day.  
  
Defeated, Yuffie mumbled something under her breath. Scotch leaned closer to hear but all he could make out was ".rather be dead then this.." And grinned to himself.  
  
  
  
"So. He's holding her captive here?" Vincent asked.  
  
Reno nodded. "This is his new 'hideout'. So where else could he take her?" he replied.  
  
They were standing in front of a tall, creepy building that was at least sixty-stories tall. Maybe bigger, and it didn't look like it was occupied that much. It was in the slums of Junon and it almost looked like one of those old warehouses.  
  
"We're more powerful then him." Cloud pointed out. "With all of our magic abilities, we'll be able to take out him and his flunkies in no problem."  
  
"Um.. Cloud?" Tifa asked.  
  
Cloud looked over to Tifa.  
  
"What?" He asked.  
  
"Yuffie has all of our materia." Tifa answered.  
  
Everyone fell silent (Cid muttered "@#$%.").  
  
"We still got our limit breaks, and our skills and weapons. No problem whatsoever to us!" Cloud pointed out.  
  
Everyone became less gloomy, but still a little transfixed on the fact Yuffie had all of the materia. What if they didn't succeed?  
  
Reno powered up his electro-mag-rod, making it crackled with electricity. "Come on! Stop yapping, we got a job to do." He said.  
  
Everyone got their weapons ready and burst through the front door.  
  
If this were a laughing matter, they'd laugh as what they were greeted by.  
  
Oh sure, Corneo had flunkies guarding the entrance hall, all right. But one little, slight problem he forgot.  
  
All three of them were drunk.  
  
"Um.. " One of the flunkies began, and got out his sword, grinning oddly at the group of newcomers. The other two guards got their fists ready for battle. But all three seemed very unstable.  
  
".Yeah. Um.. Let us through." Cloud said.  
  
"Um." The one with the sword looked for the right words. He finally came up with something after a few moments of thinking. "No."  
  
"Okay. Sorry for interrupting this neat little conversation we have here, but we're gonna hafta kill your ass because ya' won't let us through.." Barret said, raising his gun arm. In a flash, and a few chains of bullets, the guards were lying in a pool of blood on the floor.  
  
"Come on." Reno said. "Let's go." And he leaded the group through the corridor beyond the entrance hall.  
  
Two separate ways. There was a fork in the road.  
  
"I know my way around here." Reno said, gesturing to Cloud. "Corneo and his tykes stole some stuff and we had to get it back, three weeks ago." He exchanged glances with the other turks. "To the right is a corridor with rooms. Probably where Yuffie's being held. To the left is Don's chamber, where he resides."  
  
"Okay. But we're going to have to rescue Yuffie first, right?" Tifa asked.  
  
"Listen. We were hired to rescue Yuffie. But we're not going to fight Don unless necessary. We'll go rescue Yuffie while you guys fight Don, all right?" Reno asked.  
  
Cloud nodded. "Okay."  
  
"If you get Yuffie, return to us." Red said, looking up at Elena. "We'll probably be done with Don Corneo by that time, anyway."  
  
The turks nodded, and headed off to the right. AVALANCHE exchanged some glances, and then headed off left.  
  
  
  
The turks quickly took the right turn, leaving AVALANCHE behind. And soon, they found themselves facing a hall with a variety of doors on each side.  
  
But only one was being guarded. The turks hid from view and listened into the conversation at hand.  
  
"So you see, you shouldn't be so.. CONCEITED.." the guard said to the person who he was talking to, which was looking through the barred door to his right.  
  
Then Reno noticed something. Obviously the other two did also.  
  
"Scotch.!" Elena gasped, but in a whisper.  
  
"How the hell is he still alive?" Rude asked.  
  
"Dunno. Let's just kill him." Reno said, reaching for his nightstick. Then he thought the better of it. "Wait. Let's listen in for a few more minutes." He said.  
  
"SHUT UP!" came a familiar voice.  
  
"Aahhh! Look what happened LAST time you did that, Miss Kisaragi!" Scotch taunted, gesturing to his gun and then her hand.  
  
Yuffie leaned her head through the bars. "Do it again and I'll." she began, but then Scotch raised his gun to her temple. She immediantly shot back and ducked behind the door. Scotch then went for his keys to the room.  
  
"Don't matter HOW much Don wants you alive." Scotch said. "I'll kill you anyway!" And then finally unlocked the door.  
  
"NOW!" Reno said to the others, and they darted to the door, weapons raised.  
  
When they entered the room, they saw Scotch in front of Yuffie. Yuffie was backed up against the wall, scared as hell. Scotch had his gun raised. Yuffie's expression changed when she saw who came into the doorway. Then it changed, yet again, to a bummed out one when she realized just who they were.  
  
"Scotch." Reno proclaimed.  
  
Scotch spun around and looked at Reno, horrified.  
  
"Turks.!!" Scotch began.  
  
Reno cut him off when he powered up his nightstick. In the meantime, Elena got a good shot with her mako pistol in his shoulder and Rude punched him in the jaw.  
  
Scotch fell to the ground, defeated. He held his jaw and whipped the blood off his chin, and then he couldn't help noticing two teeth falling out.  
  
He looked up at the turks again, glaring. Reno smirked, and then sent a bolt of electricity at Scotch. Scotch let out one last cry and now he lied on the ground, breathless and without a pulse.  
  
"Takes care of him." Reno said.  
  
Yuffie looked at the Turks. "What the hell are you doing here?" she asked them darkly, certainly not happy even though they had killed Scotch for her. There had to be a catch to this and one of their plans were probably at hand, too!  
  
"Awww. Not happy enough that we saved your ass yet again??" Reno taunted.  
  
Fire flared in Yuffie's eyes. "What the hell are you guys planning?!" she asked.  
  
"Your friends paid money for us to find your little ass and save it." Reno said. Yuffie looked at him in disbelief. "They're taking care of Don Corneo right now. We need to join them or they might no make it. Come on." He then walked out, followed by his teammates.  
  
Yuffie stood there, silent for a couple moments. She then grumbled, frustrated, and stomped after them, picking up her shiruken and her materia pouch from Scotch's dead corpse in the meanwhile.  
  
  
  
AVALANCHE ran down the corridor to the left, ready for anything. Cloud was leading the group, along with Tifa, then Barret, Red, Cid, and Vincent in that order. Then a couple more guards, and of course they were stupid and drunk, jumped into their way.  
  
"YAAAAH!!" Cloud cried as he sliced one of the guards in two.  
  
The other four other guards whimpered. They were smarter then the first ones they encountered, and ran off.  
  
AVALANCHE continued the pursuit.  
  
Soon enough, they came to a door. It was big, and the handle was solid gold. Who else could be so rich as to buy that?  
  
Cloud wasted no time, he ripped the door open to see Don Corneo sitting at his desk, which was made out of silver and bronze, his feet propped up and smoking a cigar. He immediantly paled, dropping his cigar, and fall off his chair when he saw them.  
  
"HOW THE-"  
  
"Fucking bastard!" Cid cursed at Don Corneo, raising his spear. "Dare try to take MY favorite word!"  
  
Everyone else got their weapons ready, and then lashed out at Don Corneo. But he had a much, much better plan then to play helpless and wait for his death.  
  
That's when he started glowing. Then Cloud and the others noticed something in an instant, and this was bad. Very bad.  
  
He had mako colored eyes.  
  
Don grinned, and started laughing like a maniac.  
  
"MWAHAHAHAHAHA!!! YOU CANNOT STOP ME. WORTHLESS! I AM NOT JUST DON CORNEO ANYMORE! I AM HELLETIC DON CORNEO!!"  
  
And then he began to transform into a vicious, gruesome monster. He was even more disgusting then his humanly self, as much as human as he could have been. He had tentacles instead of arms and hands, eleven tentacles to be exact. His skin turned a dark purple, veins bulging out; he almost looked like a giant, mutilated octopus. Except he had legs and feet, with sharp, razor-like claws and coming from his mouth was slimy, green gooze. Tifa didn't want to know what that stuff was.  
  
"TIFA WATCH OUT!" Cloud screamed, but it was too late.  
  
Tifa turned to look, but all she saw was a blur, and then she felt pain. Don Corneo had one of his tentacles wrapped around her neck! And he was squeezing it hard, intending to choke her.  
  
"Tifa!!!" They all cried. But Don had her raised high, and nobody could reach her. And what was worse, Yuffie had all the materia!  
  
Don grinned sinisterly, a look so wicked only he could pull it off. "I told you back then, on Da Chou.." Don began, lifting her up higher with his tentacle, choking her more forcefully, "I. Will. Have. The. Last laugh!" and then he laughed out a maniacal roar of laughter, and then powered up for one last blow to her heart.  
  
"ALL CREATION!!" a girl's voice cried from out of the shadows, a piercing shrill of purple light illuminated the ground as a blast scorned Don at full force, and Tifa fell the ground. Cloud jumped up and caught her right in the nick of time so she wouldn't break any more bones.  
  
Then, from up in the rafters, Yuffie's nimble figure sprang downwards, landing between Don Corneo and the group, AVALANCHE. She was glaring at him.  
  
Before she could say anything, though, the Turks burst through the door, weapons in hand. Don took one glance at them, but that was a bad idea.  
  
Seizing this opportunity, Yuffie quickly drew a red summon materia and then yelled out, holding it high into the air, "TIDAL WAVE!!!" and then she and everyone else except her target, Don Corneo, disappeared. The ground grew several inches of water, and a looming, ominous figure of a magnificent sea serpent glared down at the now-puny Don Corneo. It let out a shreik so ear-ringing that windows shattered and his eardrums literally exploded, and to make it worse, a sudden flash of water winded over him, knocking him out cold. Yuffie and the others then phased back into the room where they were standing a few seconds later.  
  
Don materialized back into his human self, and Yuffie went over and checked his pulse. After a few seconds of waiting, the other members of their rag-tag group content, she stood up, grinning like mad.  
  
"He died on impact!" Yuffie replied.  
  
"Good." Elena said. "Now we can go our own separate ways."  
  
"Yeah, the boss is gonna be pissed if we don't return soon." Reno replied.  
  
The turks started to walk out, but before completely disappearing out of their field of vison, they heard Rude mutter, "I wish Rufus would just STAY dead."  
  
Cloud looked down at Tifa. She stirred. "What happened??" she asked.  
  
Cloud shook his head and looked up at the others. "We have to go to Mideel and make sure she's all right." He said. "She might have a couple broken bones."  
  
They nodded, and then walked out of the god-foresaken hell-hole.  
  
~~~~  
  
Hehe, I'll aware u, you're gunna see some romance between some two ppl soon *insert angel halo*~Chuu  
  
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	3. One Less Execution

Chapter Three  
  
  
  
Everyone was in the Mideel hospital for the next week, healing up from the battle. But mainly waiting for a plan to come up.  
  
It turned out Tifa had only one broken rib, which was easy for the Doctor to fix. Yuffie, on the other hand, was suffering from lead poisoning and had to get the bullet removed immediantly in an operation that took three hours long. First, they had to remove the bullet, then they had to remove the infected blood out of her body. A simple antidote fixed the remainder of her blood, and it would be another three days in order for her to move her wrist again. The doctor, who knew how active they all were, told Yuffie to stay at the hospital until it was completely healed. She was a little angry at this, but she went with it reluctantly.  
  
"So. How are we gunna take care 'bout Rufus??" Barret asked Cloud.  
  
"Well.." Cloud thought. "I say we get some information first."  
  
"How?" Tifa asked.  
  
"I think Cait Sith would be a good source of info." Red suggested.  
  
"But how the fuck are we supposed to find that damn cat??!" Cid asked.  
  
"We will. I have a feeling he's around." Vincent said. They all turned to look at him. "We all know how Reeve is. He was with us in the beginning, he'll be with us in the end."  
  
"Then all we got to do is wait?" Cloud asked.  
  
"Seems so." Vincent replied.  
  
"But what if ShinRa finds us?" Tifa asked. Everyone turned to look at her. "Then we'd have to hide out somewhere else. And I don't think Yuffie's well enough to run around saving the world yet, either."  
  
"You shouldn't be talking." Barret pointed out. "Ya still gotta wait for your bone to heal all the way, then we'll be ready to go."  
  
Tifa sulked.  
  
"Don't worry." Cloud said, trying to brighten things up. "Everything'll be fine! The good guys always win. That's us!"  
  
"Yeah, you're right, spike-head!" Cid said, taking a drag from his cig. "No one 'ill beat AVALANCHE, we're still strong, and ShinRa is just a rebirth of a living hell!"  
  
"Hey, where's Yuffie?" Tifa asked.  
  
"She's in her room." Red said.  
  
"That's kid's been awful quiet lately." Barret observed.  
  
"We'll ask her later." Cloud said. Everyone else nodded.  
  
  
  
'Oh GAWD. This can't..this CAN'T be happening!!!' Yuffie thought, hoping for the answer, 'no', but instead she got no answer at all. Did she really like him.?  
  
She didn't have much time to think. Because then the nurse came into the room. Yuffie looked up at the nurse.  
  
"The doctor says you're well enough to go now." The nurse said. Yuffie's face brightened up. Maybe now she could see what her answer was.  
  
Yuffie jumped out of the bed so quickly, that the nurse was surprised by how quickly she had recovered.  
  
She ran into the others in the hall. Tifa had recovered, too. But when they looked at her, they looked concerned.  
  
Yuffie raised an eyebrow. "Eh.. What did I do this time??" she asked.  
  
"Yuffie, why the hell have you been SO quiet lately?!" Cloud asked.  
  
"Just cuz I don't wanna talk doesn't mean it's a crime!" Yuffie shot back.  
  
They sighed and everyone started to walk out.  
  
Then a familiar sight ran to them. A little black and white cat with a crown on top of a giant stuffed moogle hopped over to them.  
  
"Cait Sith!" Tifa exclaimed.  
  
"No time!" Cait Sith said. "ShinRa's back!"  
  
"We know that!" Barret said.  
  
"Well, then what are you doing at the hospital??" Cait Sith asked.  
  
"Tifa and Yuffie were injured by Don Corneo." Red explained.  
  
"Oh." Cait Sith said. "Well, I've come to help you."  
  
"Figured you would." Cloud said.  
  
Cait Sith scratched the back of his head. "Eh. Sorry about being too late for beating Don's ass, though. Reeve found out that while we weren't fighting that a bug had gotten into the box- thingie that makes me able to transmit." He said  
  
"Yeah." Cloud said. "It's okay."  
  
"Say, could yeh start by telling us where the new base fer ShinRa is?" Cid asked. "I'd like to give a warm welcome to Rufus." He said with a slight smirk, and then took a drag of his cig.  
  
Cait Sith nodded. "Okay. Let's go to the Highwind." He said. "Everyone ready?"  
  
They nodded. Then they all ran off towards the Highwind.  
  
  
  
Reeve was at his computer, typing away. At the moment he was making a transmission through Cait Sith, and after he was done he was going to put it on auto-pilot. But then he heard footsteps down the hall. They were loud, forbidding ones. Ones that usually brought trouble.  
  
Then two ShinRa soldiers busted into the room abruptly. Why were they after him??  
  
"Hey!" Reeve protested as the guards took him by both arms and dragged him out of the room. "What do you think you're doing?!!"  
  
  
  
All of the sudden Cait Sith's head sunk.  
  
"Huh?" Tifa wondered. She walked over to Cait Sith and tapped it on its crown. Nothing happened. Its mog was out too.  
  
"Dude, what the hell's wrong with it?" Barret asked.  
  
"Cait?" Cloud asked. He walked over to Cait also and looked at him. Then he forced-pulled his right eye open and looked inside. He jumped back suddenly.  
  
"What is it?" Red asked.  
  
"If you look through his eye you can usually see Reeve on the other end, right?" Cloud asked.  
  
The others nodded hesitantly.  
  
"Well." Cloud began. He showed the eye to everyone else.  
  
All that was left was a headset on the ground.  
  
  
  
"Um. Rufus!" Reeve began but was soon cut off.  
  
"I'm very disappointed in your behavior!" Rufus said to Reeve.  
  
"Huh?" Reeve asked. "Why am I wearing handcuffs? What did I do?"  
  
"You betrayed ShinRa." Rufus said. "Don't think I'm too stupid to have figured out what Cait Sith is REALLY doing!"  
  
Reeve looked surprised. How could of Rufus found out.?  
  
After a moment of silence, Rufus brushed his hair back and looked at the guards. "Take him away." He said. "He is to be executed tomorrow at sunrise."  
  
"WHAT?!" Reeve exclaimed, but was then dragged away by the guards.  
  
As soon as Reeve had left, Rufus looked into the direction of a shadowed portion of the room. "Turks." He said.  
  
Then the three turks stepped out of their hiding places.  
  
"Yes, boss?" Elena asked.  
  
"I got a little riddle for all of you." Rufus said, clamping his hands together as a couple of clapper-lights went on behind him. "Who's cowardly, owns a whole continent, and will do anything in his power to save his remaining family member?"  
  
"Godo Kisaragi?" Reno asked.  
  
"Bingo." Rufus answered. He turned back towards them again. "And how are we going to be able to make him hand over Wutai?" he asked.  
  
"Kidnap his daughter!" Elena piped.  
  
"Exaclty." Rufus said.  
  
"So." Reno began. "You want us, the turks, to kidnap Lord Godo's daughter, Yuffie, and AVALANCHE member?"  
  
Rufus simply nodded.  
  
Reno smirked. "Consider it done, boss." He answered. They both shook hands.  
  
  
  
"Okay. Scratch trying to get to the base." Cloud explained. They were all in the infirmary, in the Highwind. "Now we got to focus on getting to Junon to save Reeve. Any objections?"  
  
"Hell no!" Barret said, pounding his large fist on the table, making it shake. Tifa had to hold her coke to stop it from falling off. "As much as that guy was a damn traitor before, he always had a plan! In fact, without him, Tifa would've been dead right now because of dem ShinRa!" he paused to glance at Tifa, then he looked around the room and continued. "Why the hell would we let him die if he's one of us?!"  
  
The others muttered stuff like 'Yeah!', 'He's right!', and 'Uhuh!'. Cloud scratched the back of his head and then smiled. "Okay." Then he turned to face Cid. "Cid---" he began, but was cut off when the pilot sniggered, and pointed to his pilot badge proudly.  
  
"Heh heh. Don't worry, spike!" Cid said. Then, walking out of the infirmary and yelling at the in-trainer pilot, "HEY GET OFF YOUR FUCKING LAZY ASS YOUR BREAK'S OVER! WE'RE FLYING THIS PLANE TO JUNON!!! COME ON!!!" and with that they could hear a large scuttle on the main deck.  
  
After a few moments the ship's engines began to roar and the Highwind slowly lifted off the ground. Everyone departed and walked off to their own places. Yuffie stayed behind a few moments longer.  
  
Before she left, Tifa looked behind her and saw Yuffie. Her face was now a familiar shade of green. She merely smiled. "Yuffie, have you ever tried tranquilizers?" she asked pleasantly.  
  
"They never worked." Yuffie half muttered half whimpered as she lifted herself up from her seat. Tifa shook her head dismissively and walked to the main deck.  
  
  
  
"Okay everyone." Cloud said as they were starting to reach Junon. They were all on the main deck, waiting for the lecture on how they were going to sneak in. "This is what we do. We'll divide into two groups. Me, Tifa, and Barret go in one while Red, Cid and Vincent are in another one." he began.  
  
"What about me?" Yuffie asked.  
  
"You're on your own." Cloud said. "Being a ninja and all, if we get into trouble--"  
  
"I'll be up in the rafters ready to kick some ShinRa ass, yada yada yada." Yuffie sneered.  
  
Cloud frowned at being mocked, but then he continued. "My group will enter from the left side of the building, while Cid's group enter on the right side. After that we should all meet up at the Highwind in two hours from now. If you don't find Reeve right away, then get out of there, we can't spare anymore mistakes. Got it?"  
  
Everyone else nodded.  
  
"Okay. Let's mo--" Cloud began but yet again was cut off by Cid's smirk. He grined sheephishly and then started again. "MOVE OUT!"  
  
Everyone then ran in their own seperate directions as the airship landed.  
  
Cloud looked to his left and his right. Good. Tifa and Barret were still with him. They ran to the left side of the building and waited. They saw several ShinRa guards surveying the area. They ducked behind a few crates to keep out of sight.  
  
"What are we going to do, Cloud?" Tifa asked him in a hushed whisper. "There's no way we can get in there!"  
  
"Hush, spike's prolly' gotta plan!" Barret hissed back. Then he looked over to Cloud. "Don't ya?"  
  
Cloud nodded, not looking at either of them, but with a distant look ahead. Then he fished out a sleep materia from his pocket and it started to glow. Himself, Tifa, and Barret backed away a little more and then Cloud casted Sleepel on the guards, a big purple star bonking each of them on the head sensless.  
  
After the coast was clear and all the guards were down, they darted into the building. As they turned the corner another guards spotted them, and as of on instinct, he raised his gun. Before he had a chance to fire, Barret has blown him away, only having enough stomache to take once glance at the dead coarpse as they passed it.  
  
After running and killing guards for another few minutes, they reached the execution room. Cloud looked over to Tifa. "Hey, Teef." Tifa looked over at him, wondering what he wanted her to do. "Call Cid on his PHS and tell him we're there. Also tell him to head back to the Highwind."  
  
Tifa nodded and picked up her PHS. Before she could dial anything, Scarlet and Heideggar stepped out of the room to go get some coffee, and came face to face with the three.  
  
Scarlet grinned evily as she walked over to them. Heideggar just buffawed in laughter.  
  
"AVALANCHE come to save lil ol' Reeve, eh?" Scarlet asked. Then she clapped her hands twice. "Come, boys! We got some more people for you play interactive hang-man with!" she called, directing it somewhere over Tifa's shoulder. They turned around in time to see three ShinRa SOLDIERs run around the corner.  
  
Then they turned towards Scarlet and Heideggar to see three more SOLDIERs run in from behind them. Soon they were surrounded.  
  
Scarlet sneered, snickering evily. "Heh heh heh. No where for you guys to run, now, is there?" she asked.  
  
"Shi'!" Barret cursed.  
  
  
  
"Come on, run faster you fucking slow pokes!!!" Cid yelled at the others from behind his shoulder. Red was bounding right behind him, not going as fast as possible but fast enough. Vincent was to the side of Red, his scarlet cape flailing behind him, gun raised in case they came into any trouble.  
  
Why the hell was Cid complaining?  
  
Because they hadn't found Reeve yet!!!  
  
Then they heards the alarms blaring like crazy. They all stopped and assumed their own battle stances, but nothing happened.  
  
Then Scarlet's voice came on the intercom.  
  
"WE GOT THREE MEMBERS OF AVALANCHE! YOU MUST FIND THE REMAINING FOUR NOW!! DO NOT LET THEM ESCAPE, NO MATTER WHAT THE COSTS!! BRING THEM TO ME, DEAD OR ALIVE!!!!!" she beamed.  
  
"Fuck.." Cid swore under his breath.  
  
"They got the others." Red said. "We have no other option then to keep going. We must find them all."  
  
Cid looked over to Vincent. "Well, vampire-boy. What's your say on this?" he asked.  
  
"....." Vincent looked calmly ahead. "I say we go after them. We are going to win this battle together. And we need the others to help us." Then he raised his quick silver, aimed, and fired. They heard a cry of pain as a SOLDIER fell limp the ground from out of the shadows. Then six other SOLDIERs ran into the scene.  
  
Red concentrated hard. He then let out a wolfish cry and threw up a red materia into the air with his teeth. A big beast with devil like horns appears in the sky, and then blew fire at the SOLDIERs at full force before disappearing again. They all fell to the ground, only showing the remains of the burnt coarpses.  
  
"Good show!" Cid commented. Then he turned to run again. "COME ON!!!"  
  
Vincent and Red shot after him at an instant.  
  
A couple corridors down they saw a couple of red-suited ShinRa guards.  
  
One of them noticed them.  
  
"AVALANCHE!!" He yelled in a disgusted voice. He lifted up his rifle and aimed at them.  
  
The other guard got into a battle stance and held up an ice materia. "ICE THREE!" He cried.  
  
For a split second, the AVALANCHE members felt their insides beginning to stiffen. A very sickening feeling came over Cid as he felt a gigantic icicle form in his stomache. Then he noticed his skin AND insides were turning into ice! Before he knew it, the ice had expanded even more until it had covered him completely and then cracked into a million or so pieces, pain surging through his body.  
  
They all staggered to the ground, trying to regain their composure. No matter how strong they were, nothing could go through an Ice Three and feel perfectly normal afterwards. But Vincent still had his gun raised. He took aim on the first guard and shot five bullets to his chest. They all found their way, and the guard crumpled to the ground in a heap.  
  
Then they all focused on the other guard. Frightened, he raised his own rifle and fired a dozen electricity bolts of sleepel- attributed fires at them all. Only Cid was affected, and he fell down to the ground, unconsious.  
  
Red quickly cast fire on the rifle, making it explode.  
  
"HEY!" The guard squealed. Then, seeing it was all useless, he ran out of sight, not wanting to turn out like his partner.  
  
"Wake up, Captain Cid!" Red said, and batted at him with his paw.  
  
"Eh?...Where's my tea...?" Cid asked sleepily.  
  
"No time for tea. We got to save Reeve and the others." Vincent stated.  
  
Cid quickly got to his senses and stood up with the support of his spear, and then went back to running as if it were some instant reflex. Red and Vincent followed.  
  
Then soon, they got to the door of the execution room. Oddly, there were no guards. Probably because they were all inside. They all ducked behind the door. Cid stood up slightly and peered through the door window at what was happening. Scarlet was giving a speech to a whole bunch of reporters and internationalists, with a few ShinRa SOLDIERS at her side. Against the wall, tied up to chairs, were Reeve, Cloud, Barret, and Tifa.  
  
"Okay. We need a plan." Cid said.  
  
"I already got one." Vincent said, surprising the other two.  
  
"What might that be?" Red asked.  
  
"We have to wait until they're inside the room though. And we will have to move fast. Are you sure you want to proceed with my idea?" Vincent asked.  
  
"Spit it out! We don't have all fucking day!" Cid hissed.  
  
"Okay." Vincent complied. "We have to sneak in as soon as they've locked up the room. When they least expect it. Then we attack Scarlet and her SOLDIERs from behind while those news reporters retreat. Then we grab the key from Scarlet, grab the others, and run." he explained.  
  
"Good idea." Cid said.  
  
"Most thought out." Red replied.  
  
They waited. It almost seemed like forever to wait for Scarlet to get done with her speech. All that she talked about was how scared she was durring Meteor, how frusterated she was by AVALANCHE, and how the weapons in ShinRa were going to be advanced. Nothing big. Then she turned to the SOLDIERs.  
  
"Put them in the room." She ordered.  
  
The SOLDIERS then tied Reeve, Cloud, Barret, and Tifa and led them into the gas chamber, guns poking them in the back to insure that they didn't escape.  
  
Then Cid slowly opened the door, as quietly as possible. Red closed it softly behind him with his hind paw. They slowly crept quietly through the shadows. Scarlet had then continued her speech, the SOLDIERs lined up behind her again. By the time they were behind the SOLDIERs in the shadows, they were already powering up their most powerful materia.  
  
"Now." They heard Vincent whisper.  
  
All at once, a varage of spells hit the SOLDIERs. Fire exploded over their heads, while the earth shook rapidly beneath them. Scarlet let out a shreik of terror and fell to her knees, covering her ears and squeezing her eyes shut. At once all the news reporters scurried out, not wanting to be in the line of fire. Then a great surge of electricity formed a ball around the SOLDIERs and exploded, sending sparks everywhere. After the attack, Cid, Vincent, and Red saw the six SOLDIERs fall to the ground, crumpled. The visors in their helmets to singed to see inside. Cid was sure he didn't want to see anyway, no matter how much he hated the ShinRa.  
  
Scarlet had disappeared, obviously driven and outnumbered. She was actually hiding behind the door. She growled angrily and raised her fist to herself. "Those jerks are gunna pay!" she thought, and then darted back off towards her office.  
  
Too bad she dropped her key!  
  
"Stupid ass." Cid snickered, picking up the key. He then ambled over to the gas room door and inserted the key. He turned it and unlocked it. A moment later Reeve, Cloud, Barret, and Tifa all walked out of the room, still covering their mouths. Tifa swung the door shut behind her, her face contorted with disgust.  
  
"Ugh, that's the second time, already!" she shreiked.  
  
"Come one, we gotta get outta here!" Reeve explained.  
  
"Well duh, foo'! What else?" Barret hollored back.  
  
"No. I mean NOW! Rufus is probably gonna arrive with even MORE forces!!!!" Reeve explained, panicked.  
  
"Okay. MOVE OUT!" Cloud ordered.  
  
Then they all ran towards the exit, Cid muttering, "He's getting too use to that phrase..." on the way out.  
  
As they made their way out across the Neo Sister Ray, they heard the Highwind hovering above. One of the crew members was on the side deck. Cid waved for him to throw out the rope ladder, and the crew member complied. Then they all got onto the ladder and climbed up to the airship. Soon after, they all had returned to the infirmary.  
  
But somone was missing!  
  
  
  
'They haven't come back for a while...' Yuffie thought as she ran through Junon, towards the upper plate of the town. 'I gotta see if they're all right!'  
  
As she approached the guard, she quickly handed him ten gil and scuttled into the elevator before he could even react. The guard simply scratched the back of his head and went back to usual duty.  
  
Comming out of the elevator, Yuffie ran down the streets of Junon, looking around frantically for any sign of the others. As she passed a few alleys, she began to wonder if they had just gotten back.  
  
Then somone grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into one of the alleys. She whirled around and tried to rip the hand from seizing her arm, but she had no avail.  
  
Soon they shoved her against the cold, brick wall. She felt them pull her wrists together and then the short clink of handcuffs could could be heard. As soon as she was left free, except for the handcuffs, she spun around to see her enemies.  
  
"TURKS?!" she screeched.  
  
"Sorry, Yuffie. But..." Reno began, but was then cut off.  
  
"--You're under arrest for being a part of a terrorist group! That group's name is AVALANCHE!" Elena butted in.  
  
"And don't you forget it!" Yuffie growled.  
  
"Shut up!" Reno declared. He then shocked her enough so that she would pass out. But nothing happened.  
  
All that she did was jerk in pain and slid to the ground, on her knees, keeled over. She winced and clutched her stomache. The three turks looked down at her as if she was some pathetic ladybug. She looked back up at them, glaring.  
  
"You're gunna pay." She snarled. "I swear. When my friends find out..." she trailed off as soon as Reno pointed the nightstick at her once more.  
  
"Shut up." He repeated. Then he shocked her once more. Yuffie gave out a cry as it hit her, and then her head sunk, unconsious.  
  
"Come on." Rude said. "We have to get her back to the boss for further orders."  
  
The turks nodded triumphantly. Reno picked Yuffie up and they started to head back to their helicopter.  
  
  
  
"We're missing Yuffie!!!" Tifa screeched. "HOW COULD YOU LEAVE HER BEHIND?!!!!" she screamed at Cid.  
  
"Fucking hell!" Cid cursed. "We didn't even see her!!!"  
  
"YOUR PLANE DROVE AWAY!" she screamed back.  
  
"WOULD YOU OF RATHER LIKED IT BACK THERE, SUFFOCATED IN THAT DAMN GAS ROOM?!!!"  
  
Tifa went silent after that. Then she looked up again, not knowing what to say.  
  
"She's in big trouble."  
  
AVALANCHE turned towards Reeve at the sound of his voice.  
  
"....What do you mean....in trouble?" Tifa asked.  
  
"BIG trouble? Dat's bad." Barret observed. "Explain, foo'."  
  
"They had plans to kidnap her." Reeve explained.  
  
"...Who?" Cloud asked, cursiously.  
  
"The turks." Reeve stated.  
  
The others went into an immediant uproar.  
  
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE FUCKING TURKS KIDNAPPED HER?!" Cid exclaimed.  
  
"DAMN SHINRA!!!" Barret countered.  
  
"How could they do this?!!" Tifa asked.  
  
"Why would they want to kidnap her?" Red asked.  
  
"To get Wutai." Reeve said. "They're going to hold her for ransom, but then go back on their word and take everything for themselves. Rufus is..." he paused.  
  
"What?" Cloud asked, taking a step closer to the black haired ShinRa executive.  
  
"Rufus...H...H...He's going to destroy the entire continent!!" Reeve shouted, as if he didn't want the information in his head anymore.  
  
Everyone gasped, and there was a long, awkward, silence....  
  
~~~~  
  
Gawd.. That was long... *flop*  
  
~~~~ 


	4. The Man In The Black Cape

Chapter Four  
  
"What should we do with her?"  
  
"Just let her be. She'll wake up."  
  
"The boss said to leave her in here anyway."  
  
"But she looks so cute when she's asleep...Heh heh..."  
  
"Reno shut up!"  
  
"Geeze.... I was only joking..."  
  
"....."  
  
"(Gawd she's hot...)"  
  
"RENO!!"  
  
"Sorry!!"  
  
Yuffie opened one of her eyes wearily, not all the way. She didn't want them to know that she was awake yet. Maybe she could get some information out of them without asking.  
  
"Well. In any case, I'm gonna see what Rufus will say!" Elena said, and scampered off. Rude followed her silently.  
  
Then Yuffie saw Reno look her way. She quickly closed her eyes.  
  
Reno smirked and walked over to her. She was in one of the jail cells on floor 67 in the ShinRa HQ. Reno opened the cell's door and closed it behind him. Yuffie heard his steps nearing and she begged he didn't see her. Then he kneeled down next to her.  
  
"I know you're awake, Yuff." He said softly in her ear.  
  
Her eyes snapped open. He was gazing back at her with beautiful aquamarine eyes.  
  
'SNAP OUTTA IT, YUFFIE!' she thought to herself. 'He's the enemy!!!'  
  
Then his hand dropped to her cheek in a caress. Her face went pink, and she could tell, too. He smirked.  
  
"Eh? Have something for me, don't ya?" He asked, his smirk growing slightly.  
  
Yuffie suddenly jerked away, looking purely disgusted.  
  
"Jerk! You stay away from me!" she screeched.  
  
"Not if I don't want to." Reno replied, standing up.  
  
"Well you can't have me, so back off!" Yuffie intersected. "Damn man-whore.."  
  
'There.' she thought. 'Good idea. Covering up your feelings with more rejects. Good, good. You're always doing this!! Stop it for once! But he's the enemy! So?!' Yuffie was getting annoyed by the two voices arguing in her head.  
  
"What are you going to do with me, anyhow?" Yuffie asked him, breaking the silence.  
  
He smirked. "Lets just say it's undecided yet." He said. Reno caught the frown on Yuffie's face and then continued. "Oh but I bet you'd like to hear that you're going to be used as bait to get Wutai! Hmm?"  
  
Yuffie turned red with anger. "WHAT?!" Then she glared menacingly at him. "If you even dare..." she began, but trailed off as Reno reached under his jacket for his nightstick.  
  
"Glad we have an agreement." He chuckled. Yuffie growled angrily and stalked to the other side of the room, and faced the wall away from him.  
  
A few minutes of silence later, they heard footsteps comming their way. Reno stepped out of the cell. Yuffie just looked over he shoulder curiously, and then went back to glaring at the wall, knowing pretty well who it was.  
  
"So, what did the boss say?" Reno asked, leaning against the doorway.  
  
"He said we should take her to his office. I think we should comply." Rude answered.  
  
"Okay." Reno said.  
  
"Come on, we don't want to make him mad."  
  
"Where's El?" Reno asked, standing up straight.  
  
"Back at the office. Rufus needed to talk to her about something, don't know what." Rude answered.  
  
"Hmm.." Reno thought about this for a moment, and then stepped out of the doorway and closed the jail cell's door.  
  
"Shimatta.." Yuffie cursed under her breath.  
  
Reno snickered. "Heh. I know THAT wutain word." he mocked.  
  
"Hey, dude, I said we needed to bring her with us." Rude said.  
  
"She's too much trouble." Reno whined.  
  
"Just do it." Rude half-begged, aggrivated.  
  
"Fine Fine." Reno answered. He opened the door again and walked into the cell.  
  
Yuffie swirled around and dodged out of the way. Reno lept out at her, trying to grab her by her arms. She jumped out of the way quickly and darted for the door. But Rude was blocking her path.  
  
"Where do you think you're going?" Rude asked, looking down at her.  
  
Reno came up behind Yuffie and recliped the handcuffs over her wrists. Yuffie grumbled as she was lead to Rufus' office by the two turks.  
  
  
  
"So!!" Barret began. "I got an idea for a way we can spring the kid!"  
  
"What's that?" Cloud asked.  
  
"We can get more people to be involved in AVALANCHE and then break into the ShinRa building!" Barret proclaimed. "Damn foo's won't be able to even react!!!"  
  
"Yeah, but I think that is rather foolish." Red said.  
  
Barret looked at Red critically.  
  
"What do ya mean, foo'?!" he asked indignantly.  
  
"Even if we had such numbers, in the situation ShinRa and ourselves are now... That'll almost be impossible." Red explained, swishing his tail impatiently.  
  
Barret cursed under his breath.  
  
"Then...what do we do?" Tifa asked, waiting for an answer.  
  
"Teef..." Cloud began.  
  
Tifa turned to him curiously. "Something bad's going to happen, and you know it!" She said, waving her arms out to emphasize her point even further. "It's going to be a bad thing, too! And..." she trailed off, looking into his eyes, and then slowly averting her gaze around the room, "If something bad DOES happen... What will we do then?"  
  
There was a long silence around the room.  
  
"Tifa, we can't go back after Yuffie yet again... I hate to say that and yet it's a relief." Cloud started. "But if we keep chasing after to un-capture people sooner or later ShinRa's going to have reached their goal and we'd be stuck in the dust. We have to move on and hopefully meet up with her later."  
  
Tifa nodded solemnly, but she didn't speak.  
  
"Well, what we should worry about is," Vincent said, stepping up from the shadows he was hidden in. "why ShinRa wants to get Yuffie so badly. I mean, Don Corneo wouldn't just kidnap her for revenge. He wouldn't do that unless there were people to back him up."  
  
"Vince's right." Cid said, taking a drag of his cigarette. "They're up to something big. So the first thing we do is find out what. And more importantly, why the fuck there is a whole bunch of reports of SOLDIERs in Wutai lately."  
  
"Where did you hear that?" Tifa asked.  
  
"On the news back in Rocket Town before you guys even called me up on this wacky adventure." Cid answered. "Since we were so close to Wutai, the news probably thought it could be a danger to us, too."  
  
"Well, maybe we should ask the damn spy!" Barret said, glaring and turning his head over to glance at Reeve.  
  
Reeve was sitting at the infirmary table with all the others, but his head was low and his eyes were fixed on something that wasn't really there. He hadn't said a word for the longest time and was acting like he was off in some other world.  
  
"Well, foo'!" Barret slammed his mighty fist on the desk. Again, all of their glasses shook. Tifa had to hold hers to keep it from falling off the table.  
  
Reeve slowly looked up at them all, suddenly back. His eyes showed no emotion whatsoever, but there was a somewhat quaver in his voice as he spoke. "They...the ShinRa...they said that they were going to relive the war against Wutai..."  
  
"Yeah, you already told us that." Cloud said, scratching the back of his head.  
  
"But... They said there was some sort of energy in that materia cave." Reeve countered.  
  
"NO WAY! THEY CAN'T SUCK THE MAKO OUTTA THERE!!!!" Barret roared.  
  
"Sh, Barret!" Cloud hissed. Barret glared coldly at him.  
  
"If there's a force comming from the Mime Materia cave... That's usually meaning something bad's going to happen." Red said.  
  
"What do you expect to happen?" Cid asked.  
  
"I don't know..." Red said thoughtfully.  
  
"If only Aeris was back." Cloud said. All of the others' heads snapped up at the mention of their lost friend. Aeris had died the summer just before and there were all hit very strongly about it. Tifa in particular, because they were such good friends. And Cloud, too, because she had known his friend, Zack, long ago.  
  
"Cloud...she's gone..." Tifa tried to say as calmly as possible.  
  
"But...maybe she could know what was happening..." Clouod trailed off.  
  
"It's true, if she were back we would all be happier, but we can't redo the past. What's done is done. That's all there is to it." Vincent said.  
  
"Then...what do we do?" Tifa asked.  
  
"Then, we go to the cave." Cloud said, standing up, and twirled his sword in the air triumphantly at finding a plan.  
  
"But...How is that helping our situation???" Barret asked.  
  
Cid laughed. "Who the fuck cares?! HEY PILOT WE'RE TAKING OFF!!! FLY THIS PLANE'S ASS TO THE WUTAIN MIME MATERIA CAVE -NOW-!!!" he hollored.  
  
In a few minutes the Highwind's engine began to roar and soon they took off to Wutai.  
  
"I just damn well hope you find what you're lookin' for, spike." Barret said, and ran out of the infirmary.  
  
"Don't worry." Cloud said, shaking his head and grinning. "I will."  
  
  
  
"Hurry up!" Reno said, and pushed Yuffie ahead.  
  
Yuffie grumbled and muttered something under her breath in wutain that, even if Reno could translate what she was saying, woulndn't have come out clear enough to be understood.  
  
Rude sighed and shook his head. "Quit whining both of you.." he mumbled.  
  
Yuffie, on the other hand, didn't really care. She was trying to go as slow as she could, trying to devise a plan so she could spring herself. Sure enough AVALANCHE would help her out on this one too? But...they would of gotten her by now, right? Then... Had they just given up on her? Was she too much of a burden?  
  
She didn't have too much time to think because they had reached Rufus' office. Reno opened the door and quietly stepped in, forcing Yuffie with him, with Rude following them.  
  
"So." Rufus said, bringing his clenched hands up to his chin and resting his elbows against his desk. "This is the Kisaragi? I thought she'd be more...how can I say this...?" he paused, waving his hand in a small circle in the air as if he was trying to fish out the word out of thin air. When he found the world he snapped his fingers. "Elegent!..." Then he paused again, looking slightly disappointed. "But... You're not. What a shame." he said, and laughed harshly. Yuffie glared at him. "I was thinking of a terrific headline for the newspaper!" Then he brought his hands out as if he was putting up the letters on a sign. " 'ELEGENT PRINCESS KISARAGI MURDERED IN DEFENCE AGAINST WUTAI' but.... I gues not..." he said, and chuckled evily, leaning back in his chair.  
  
If Rufus wasn't his boss, Reno would of slapped him silly. 'So what?' he thought to himself. 'It's a girl, duh. She does take care of herself better then some of those bums on the street.'  
  
"What do you want us to do with her, boss?" Elena asked Rufus.  
  
"I want you to keep her captive until nesecary." Rufus said. "But, I also want you to intersect AVALANCHE... And also deliver the message to Lord Godo Kisaragi...." he paused. "Now, how can you all do that at once?" he asked them, as if he didn't know the answer himself.  
  
"We could always take the kid with us." Reno said.  
  
"That could be a problem." Rufus said. "What if she tries to escape?"  
  
"Three against one? Not going to work." Elena said.  
  
Yuffie muttered something about skills and then went back to being silent when she caught Rufus' glare.  
  
"So." Reno started, striding over to Rufus' desk while twirling his nightstick idly. "We go to Wutai and tell Godo Kisaragi, and then leave. Of course, AVALANCHE will be there, so we'll just fight until we see an equal opportunity to leave."  
  
"But what if they try to capture the girl?" Rufus asked, glancing over at Yuffie.  
  
Reno thought for a second.  
  
"We could always make her friends think something else." Rude suggested.  
  
Reno turned to Rude. "Brilliant idea, my stone-faced friend!" he said, his ever-so present smirk returning to his lips.  
  
"But what could that be?" Elena asked, turning to look at him.  
  
"Oh... I think I've got something in mind." Reno said with a twinkle in his eyes.  
  
Yuffie felt uneasy about her whole situation and wondered if she'd ever live through any of this...  
  
  
  
AVALANCHE were now traveling towards the hidden Mime Materia cave out in Eastern Wutai, but they had to go on foot. There was no way they could land the Highwind anywhere near there. They had to leave it back at the last bridge.  
  
As they were walking, Tifa could notice a strange aura surrounding the area. Everytime she took a step closer to the cave, she could feel it somewhat get stronger. It was like it was telling her to leave that place now and save her own skin.  
  
She quickly shook her head, not wanting to think of the possiblities of what could happen if the aura was right. She looked over at Cloud, who was traveling right beside her. It was like something was wrong with him too. There was a little hint of fear in his eyes, but she couldn't blame him. No one knew what was in that cave.  
  
But what was on the almost top of her thoughts was where Yuffie was. She couldn't help thinking about all the possibilites where she could be. Or what ShinRa could be doing to her. Then the most painful thought brushed through her.  
  
What if Yuffie was already dead...?  
  
Then, without warning, Cloud dropped to his knees. Everyone stopped almost immediantly and turned to stare at him. His hands slowly rose to his ears and he then clutched his head, eyes shut tight as if he was concentrating really hard.  
  
Then he started screaming.  
  
"NO!!!!! STOP!!! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!!" he cried, shaking his head like mad. Tifa looked horror-streaked and she rushed to his side. She tried to pull his hands away from his head, but he pushed her away almost harshly. She fell to the ground beside him and stared at him, praying that he would go back to normal. "NOOOOOO!!!!!!!" Cloud kept screaming, and now he was attempting to rip his spikey hair out.  
  
"CLOUD! STOP!!" Barret yelled, and tried to confront him but Cloud then looked up. His mako-colored eyes were now red and blood-shot. He was extremely angry.  
  
Everyone stepped back. Cloud got up and raised his sword. He looked over to Tifa with murder in his eyes. He walked over to her, and then prepared to slash down. Before he could, though, Red jumped and pinned him down.  
  
"Cloud, snap out of it!" Red said, trying to keep the struggling ex-SOLDIER from killing Tifa. But soon Cloud's struggles diminished, and then he stopped. He opened his eyes again, and they were back to the soft, mako-color as usual.  
  
"Oh...my...god..."He moaned. He reached his hand to his forehead and tried to recollect what had just happened. Red got off of him, still unsure though, and stepped back. Cloud then stood up and put his sword away. He looked over at the others.  
  
"Oh, no.." Reeve began. He knew damn straight what had just happened.  
  
"Sephiroth..." Cloud began, but he couldn't finish. He was too weak to go on with his sentence.  
  
"Hush, Cloud." Tifa said. "We'll find out what's in that cave. You can stay here."  
  
"No! I'm comming!" Cloud protested.  
  
"Fuck no you aren't!!" Cid cursed. "You just fucking tried to kill Tifa!!!"  
  
"But I have to! I want to know what just made me do that!" Cloud tried to reason with them.  
  
"It is most unfortunate of this, but..." Vincent started, walking over to the group. "Let him do as he pleases. He has every right to find out the reason why he was being controlled."  
  
The others hesitated, then nodded their heads in agreement. Then they began again on their tred.  
  
  
  
They all walked into the cave. It was still its usual yellowish glow, and a dull spot in the glow where the materia used to have been. After they filed into the cave, they all looked around for any changed and what could be of any importance.  
  
But there was nothing.  
  
"That's so strange..." Tifa said, looking around. "I could of sword I felt an evil aura as we walked toward this cave. But now it's gone..."  
  
"Well, what could hat mean?!" Barret asked.  
  
"Even if the aura is gone, I feel like we're all in really grave danger.." Red explained. "Like something's out there.... waiting for the right moment to strike..."  
  
Just then, somehing appeared. The mime materia had just appeared in its original spot, glowing magnificently as if it was never even touched. They all gasped.  
  
"Wait a minute.... THAT's not the mime materia!!" Cid gasped.  
  
He was right. At first it had looked like it, because this materia was clear. It was just illuminating the yellow glow from its surroundings. Then it stopped. All the glowing stopped. The whole cave went dull, with the only light was from either the outside entrance or the deep crevises deep inside the cave.  
  
'Thought I couldn't come back huh?'  
  
"Ack! Did you guys hear that?!" Cloud said, and got into a fighting stance.  
  
Everyone followed his lead and got in their own fighting stances.  
  
"Yeah, I sure as hell heard it!" Barret exclaimed.  
  
'Thought I was dead! Ha! What a laugh! I am a god! YOU CAN NOT KILL A GOD!!!!'  
  
Then the cave walls disappeared. They were now outside again, same place though. The sky's clouds turned dark. A crack of lighting striked the ground far off at a distance in the ocean. It was like the sun had disappeared.  
  
But the crystal-clear materia was still in its place, shining brightly now. It rose up into the air and hung lightly as if it were controlled by puppet strings.  
  
"THAT'S AERIS' MATERIA!!!" Cloud gasped, trying to yell to the others over the great rumble of the thunder and lightning around them. It was now starting to rain heavily. It was then that the strange aura had returned.  
  
It was the ancient's materia, no doubt.  
  
The white materia.  
  
Just then a bolt of raw lightning cracked the materia and then an explosion occured. Everyone had to shield their eyes from the blinding white light the explosion had created.  
  
Then the heat of the light disappeared. Tifa and the others slowly took their hands and arms away from their eyes to peer at what had just happened.  
  
Now, instead of the materia, there was a dark, shadowed figure. One that. by now, most people would rather they had an endless nightmare then to see again. It was just like and endless nightmare, if anything, but this time it was real.  
  
The figure looked up. Cold, mako eyes. Long, silver hair. The most sinister look anyone could ever hold. His cold smile, almost harsh, shone brightly. His eyes twinkled with an evil mirth. His clothing just added the fear. He wore big, white shoulder pads with three holes on each. A long, black cape on his back, and a black trenchcoat with the center cut out, held together by two, X-crossed beltstraps. He also wore big, black leather booths with silver chains as shoelaces. And, in his hand, was the long, six-footed sword. The same weapon that had killed millions of people durring the war. The same weapon that killed so many innocent lives of humans and monsters alike.  
  
The same sword that killed Aeris.  
  
Sephiroth. This was definently Sephiroth. As solid as ever. He was not a hollographic, fake vision, not a ghost, nor spirit. He was real. He had came back to life.  
  
"Sephiroth..." Cloud growled through his gritted teeth. Nobody else had anything to say. Well, of course they did, but, they couldn't find the strength to say anything.  
  
"Surprised?" Sephiroth asked. He raised his arms slightly to show that he could really move, and then he stretched each of his fingers out. "Ah.. yes. It's been almost a year, hasn't it, Cloud?" He then looked down at his masamune, the six-foot long sword. "I was hoping to crash the party. Sorry, but I will destroy ShinRa. I don't need any of your help. But, I'm going to destroy the planet with it! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!!" he finished in his maniacal laughter, facing the heavens with his sword drawn up into the air.  
  
"SEPHIROTH!" Cloud yelled angrily. Sephiroth stopped and looked at Cloud curiously, not sure what the sudden outburst meant. "I'll take you with my bare hands! How DARE you come back after all that you've done! Can't you just STAY dead? Well, when I'm finished with you, I'll be sure to let you rot in...hell...forever." he finished, emphasizing the last few words with great dignity.  
  
"I doubt it, shadow." Sephiroth said, smiling evily at his new nick name for Cloud.  
  
Cloud raised his sword threatenly. "Get this through your skull! I. ..AM. ..NOT. ..YOUR. .....SHADOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!" and with that said, or yelled, he lunged at Sephiroth.  
  
Sephiroth quickly raised his sword in defense, and they both struggled for a few minutes. The rest of AVALANCHE watched in awe, praying silently that Cloud would win. Just then Cloud pushed Sephiroth's sword out of the way with great might, and before he could do anything, Sephiroth lashed out at him. Cloud dodged to the side, and then slashed at Sephiroth. Sephiroth nearly fell over trying to dodge Cloud's sword, and then Cloud raised his sword again, and then, glaring at Sephiroth, he started slicing at him continuously. His omnislash limit break. Sephiroth raised his sword in attempt-defense yet again, but this time he couldn't save himself. Before Cloud could get any more blows to him, he jumped out of the line of fire.  
  
"HAHAHAHAHA! YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE LAST OF ME, CLOUD STRIFE!" Sephiroth beamed, and then disappeared in a crack of lightning, leaving the AVALANCHE members speachless.  
  
After a long times silence, Reeve spoke up.  
  
"What are we going to do now?" he asked.  
  
"The only thing we can do." Cloud said, looking up and turning towards the direction of Wutai.  
  
"What's that?" Red asked.  
  
"Go to Wutai to warn Godo about ShinRa." Cloud answered. He then turned to tred on to Wutai, and the others got up and followed him. As they walked, the thunder and lightning storm still rumbled in the background, as if there was no end to it.  
  
  
  
It was another rainy day in the big city. Cars rolled on through the streets, and some of the stores were starting to close. It was around ten o' clock PM, and most of the people were going home. Except for the party animals of the city. Ever since Midgar had been destroyed the city had grown strongly. All of the residents of Midgar found it safter to go to Wutai for home, for it still had a lot of land left to spare. Now, most of the bare, singed land from the war was covered in the northern region. But still, the city DID, afterall, have some faults...  
  
"Damnit! When will it ever stop raining here?!" Reno complained.  
  
"Oh, stop complaining, we're not going to be here long." Elena scolded. "We just have to 'talk' to Lord Godo and then leave."  
  
"Don't forget about the rebels. They'll most likely show up." Reno said.  
  
"Like that'll be much more of a problem." Rude said.  
  
Just then the rain started to pour even harder then ever.  
  
"Okay, let's just get there quick before we all drown!" Yuffie screeched, running to get cover under a nearby booth.  
  
Reno sighed and walked over to her, grabbed her by the wrist, and began to pull her along.  
  
"Hey, wait.." Elena began. They all stopped and turned to look at her.  
  
"Is something wrong?" Rude asked.  
  
"Yes... That's not all Rufus told us to do." Elena answered.  
  
"Damnit! She's right!" Reno said, getting angry. "We have to see how that reactor over by the Mime Materia cave is going... They were supposed to start construction yesterday."  
  
"MORE in the rain?! Gawd...!!" Yuffie whimpered. She hated getting wet.  
  
"Just follow us, brat." Reno said, dragging her along.  
  
"As if I had a choice..." Yuffie muttered. She hated being ordered around.  
  
Then they walked up to a slightly large mansion. It shone elegantly like a holy castle against the lightning's flicker in the background.  
  
"So, this is the Kisaragi manor?" Reno said, turning to Yuffie. "Do you live here too?" he asked.  
  
"No, I live on my own." Yuffie confirmed.  
  
"Ah.. I see. A loner." He observed. "Hate your dad or somethin?" he asked.  
  
"No. We just have...some... differences..."Yuffie said slowly.  
  
Reno snickered. "Come on, let's go inside." he said.  
  
He started off into the manor, followed by the other two turks and dragging along Yuffie, who was now even more persistant than ever to leave. Reno figured she didn't really want to see Godo in a sense that was almost humorly. As they made up their was towards the door, Reno turned back towards Yuffie.  
  
"Okay, brat. I'm going to let you lead us in now. But..." he trailed off, reaching for his nightstick in his pocket and letting go of her wrist with his other hand. "...If you even dare try to sneak away or pull anything funny, you'll get a punishment."  
  
Yuffie gulped silently. They weren't really going to kill her, were they? Well, if they were, then she'd have to do what they told her to. She grumbled and then walked up to the guards, the turks in her wake.  
  
The guards moved aside as she walked in, and also let the turks by, but not without any glares of disgust.  
  
Soon they made it to Godo's quarters. Reno couldn't help notice that the whole manor was so nicely kept. The perfect place for a lord to resign.  
  
Yuffie slowly opened the door Godo's office. Godo looked up immediantly. His jaw almost dropped. Yuffie was covered in so many scrapes and scratches that he was worried about what she had been up to.  
  
"Yuffie... What is it that you want?" Godo asked, putting down the letter he was writing and turning his swivel chair to face her.  
  
Reno stepped forward, and Godo recognized him in an instant.  
  
"SHINRA!!" Godo proclaimed, standing up from his chair.  
  
"Indeed." Reno replied, smirking. Yuffie decided this was her chance, and she then took a couple steps to the side in a run, but Reno lunged and grabbed her by the wrist. He quickly fished out his nightstick and brought it to her temple.  
  
"STOP!! PLEASE STOP!!" Godo pleaded. "What do you want from me?!!" he asked.  
  
"All we want is your country." Reno growled. He then pulled Yuffie against him so she was also facing Godo. He lowered the nighstick to her chest in a better attempt to keep her from escaping. "Let this be a warning. Surrender now, or you'll loose your daughter and we'll have to force another war." replied coldly. Then he ran out of the room, followed by the other turks.  
  
"YUFFIE!!!!" Godo cried. Then he dropped to his knees and did something most people would never see a grown man do. Cried.  
  
  
  
The turks were now running at top speed towards the exit of the city. It would be a longer trip back because, since the manor was against the Da Chou moutains, and they had to go to the southwestern exit, rather than the southeastern exit that they had came through, so they could catch their helicopter ride back to Neo Midgar.  
  
But then a shout rang back behind them. They all stopped short and swirled around, Yuffie being forced to by Reno's strong grip.  
  
"STOP RIGHT THERE, SHINRA!" Barret exclaimed, bringing up his gunarm to fire. The rest of AVALANCHE were with him, including Reeve also.  
  
"So, I knew you guys would show up." Reno said calmly.  
  
"LET HER GO!!!" Tifa screamed.  
  
"If you even dare try to strike at us then you might as well say bye to your friend!" Elena exclaimed.  
  
"What do you mean?!" Cloud asked.  
  
Then Reno grabbed Yuffie so her back was facing him yet again against his chest, his nightstick raised to her chest, finger hovering over a button. Then AVALANCHE went silent.  
  
"You wouldn't fucking dare!!" Cid proclaimed.  
  
"Wanna bet?" Reno questioned. Then he pressed one of the buttons and soon enough Yuffie felt a large, long, ever-lasting jolt of electricity surging through her. She screamed in pain as Reno kept his finger on the button, not letting go.  
  
"STOP STOP STOP STOP OH MY GOD STOP!!!" Tifa cried.  
  
Reno let go of the button and Yuffie fell limply into his arms. He wasn't smirking when he looked at her. Rude and Elena noticed as well as the others that it looked like not even he liked what he just did. 'Of course, why would I want to do that??' Reno thought to himself. 'I gotta stop shocking her or I'll waste such a perfect body. Heh heh..'  
  
AVALANCHE could only stare at them. Then Cloud stepped forward.  
  
"What are you going to do with her??" he asked.  
  
"Well, it's not like this wasn't her plan." Reno replied.  
  
"...What do you mean?" Cloud asked, hesitently.  
  
"It was her idea as part of a plan." Reno said. "Surely I wouldn't do that on PURPOSE to another...." he trailed off, looked over to his other comrades, then down at Yuffie, then back to AVALANCHE with his smirk now restored. "...Turk?" he finished.  
  
If it was possible, all of AVALANCHE's jaws would of dropped.  
  
"You can't be serious!!" Reeve exclaimed. "Rufus would never--"  
  
"IT'S PRESIDENT TO YOU!" Elena exclaimed.  
  
"And yes, he would." Reno said. "You see, with all of her ninja and stealing skills, she'd be almost perfect for the job." he paused for a moment. "Like age is really a problem?" he asked.  
  
"You monsters..." Vincent said coldly, giving no mercy in his words. "Turning a completely innocent girl into another one of ShinRa's toys..."  
  
"Hell, she asked for it. So be it." Reno said.  
  
"SHE'D NEVER ASK TO BE A PART OF YOU DAMN SHINRA!!!!" Barret uproared.  
  
"Well, that's what you think." Reno said. Just then a helicopter lowered down towards them on the rainy street. Elena and Rude climbed on the rope latter up to the helicopter. Reno took one glance at AVALANCHE, and then carried Yuffie up to the copter with great agility using one hand on the rope.  
  
Cid cursed.  
  
"Well, how are we going to break it to Godo that his daughter switched sides?" Red asked.  
  
"Shit..." Barret began.  
  
"You guys. I don't think Yuffie really wanted to go with them." Tifa said. She turned to the others. "I mean...what could of drived her to make such a decision??"  
  
They all paused. There was nothing they wanted to say on the subject. Then they all started to head to the Kisaragi Manor to explain to Godo the news...  
  
  
  
"Ungh.... Where am I...?" Yuffie asked, openning her eyes, squinting into the darkness. She could make out a blurry, red and blue figure in front of her, looking down at her. Slowly everything came to focus, but the ache in her head didn't. She groaned and stirred weakly, trying to get out of the figure's grasp.  
  
Reno didn't let go. "No no no, you're not going anywhere." Reno said.  
  
Yuffie looked at him questionably.  
  
"Unless you want to jump for your life. We're in a helicopter." Reno finished.  
  
"I would never want to join the turks." Yuffie said. Even though she had lost most of her consiousness, she could still have heard their conversation with AVALANCHE just a few minutes ago.  
  
"Maybe I could make you change your mind?" Reno asked her. Yuffie struggled agian, but he still didn't let go of her.  
  
"Persistent, isn't she?" Rude snickered.  
  
"Shut up..." Yuffie growled. Then she tried to stand up again, but this time a searing pain went through her head and she groaned and sulked back to her former position.  
  
Reno sighed heavily. "Stop it, you're just going to keep hurting yourself." he said.  
  
"Like you'd care?!" Yuffie exclaimed.  
  
"Oh, Yuffie, believe this," Elena said, with an amused look on her face. Reno's head snapped over to her, glaring. "You should of seen the look on his face after he shocked you!" she tried to keep from giggling.  
  
"What do you mean???" Yuffie asked, looking at Elena as if she held the secret to curing the mini virus with an item.  
  
"...Elena..." Reno growled through clenched teeth.  
  
But she didn't stop. "It was if he didn't even want to do it!" She said. "Oooooh! I think he likes you!"  
  
"Elena, that's quite enough." Rude said, glaring at her. Elena then stopped, not wanting to cause any more trouble.  
  
But Yuffie didn't buy it. "Yeah, right. Like I'm going to fall for such a trick." she said.  
  
"Aw, common, Yuff.." Reno said, and pulled her against his chest. Yuffie thought he was going to shock her yet again, but instead she felt his arms wrap around her sides and he lowered his lips to her ear and brushed it. Yuffie immediantly turned red. "It's not a trick..." he whispered into her ear. Just then Yuffie jerked away and across the helicpter, several feet away from Reno.  
  
The others snickered silenlty. Yuffie made no eye contact whatsoever with Reno for the remainder of the ride.  
  
~~~~  
  
Please, please, PLEASE read and review! I wanna know what people think about this! Thanx! ~Chuu  
  
~~~~ 


	5. Sephiroth's Shadow

Chapter Five  
  
  
  
"So... They're gone." Tifa said, looking bummed.  
  
"Don't worry, we'll see them again, sometime soon." Cloud said, putting a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. Tifa looked back up to him and smiled.  
  
"Spike, stop getting so over confident." a voice said from beind.  
  
They both turned around to see the smoking pilot taking a drag from his cig as usual.  
  
"What do you mean, Cid?" Tifa asked.  
  
"Damn, we don't even know where the fuck the damn kid is. We don't even know if she's really on our side. Hell, what if what red head said was true?" Cid tried to explain.  
  
"Are you saying Yuffie's a traitor??" Tifa shot, standing up. Cloud quickly restrained her.  
  
"Could of fooled ya? I thought you'd at least suspect it." Cid replied.  
  
"Hey! I think I speak for everyone when I say this, but just because she stole something of ours in the past, doesn't mean we can't trust her!" Cloud said, standing up himself.  
  
"What kind of point are you trying to make, Spike?! What about what she said back then?!" Cid declared.  
  
Cloud and Tifa both thought for a moment to think about what he was getting at...  
  
  
  
"Yuffie... You're not...!!" Tifa had exclaimed.  
  
"I don't know! I have nothing to do with this one!" Yuffie shot back.  
  
"THIS one?! What do you mean, THIS one?!" Tifa glared. "So you WERE trying to pull something off!!!"  
  
"No... um... uhh..." Yuffie stammered, and then the soldiers decided to attack. Yuffie quickly got out of the line of fire and darted out of eye sight before they could defeat the guards...  
  
  
  
"But she had stolen our materia!" Tifa said. "She wasn't going to do anything else!"  
  
"How are you so damn sure?!" Cid exclaimed. "She was plotting something all along! The damn kid knew this was gunna happen!!!"  
  
"Yet she stayed with us till the end!" Cloud yelled back. "Why the hell would she stay with us... Even when we were fighting Sephiroth in the crater?! If she had died, then this plan would of never worked out! Not even YUFFIE would go that far! Hell, not even RENO or RUFUS would!"  
  
Cid was silent, and he looked at the ground, scratching his head, trying to think of another comeback.  
  
"Damn you, Spike." Cid muttered.  
  
"Well, what we have to figure out now is what Sephiroth's going to do." Cloud said. "He's our bigger threat."  
  
"Yeh right." Cid agreed. "We can take care of the other boys later! Heh heh."  
  
"Hey... Captain!" One of the crewmen asked. They didn't even notice him enter the infirmary. They all jumped at the noise, but then relieved when they saw who it was.  
  
"What the fuck do you want?!" Cid exclaimed.  
  
"Um, sir! You might want to see this! The others are watching it right now as we speak!" the crewmember said, and then darted off.  
  
"What the hell...?" Cid began, but Cloud and Tifa were already walking past him. He joined in the line and they all started heading up to the deck to see what was going on.  
  
In the room next to the pilot's station, the others were gathered, watching something on the television.  
  
But the report sure wasn't that pleasant, either!  
  
"A series of reports have said that mysterious dragons have appeared and are causing havoc all over the earth. Most witnesses declare that they're the same monsters who attacked just a few short months ago!" the reporter on the news station said.  
  
"No.. It can't be..." Tifa began.  
  
"Believe it." Barret said grimly.  
  
"WEAPON...." Vincent said in a gaze at the tv screen, which was now occupied with footage of the Ultimate WEAPON marching along the bay near Mideel.  
  
"WELL COME ON, WE HAVE TO STOP THEM IMMEDIANTLY!" Reeve warned.  
  
"That would be the most main idea." Red said, flicking his tail in an annoyed posture.  
  
"Gotcha. Okay, team! Our new mission, destroy the WEAPONs!" Cloud declared.  
  
"Right on!" they all answered, except for Vincent and Red.  
  
"OKAY WHIMPS, OUR NEXT DESTINATION IS MIDEEL!" Cid hollored back to the crew members. "GET 'ER MOVIN! WE DON'T HAVE THAT MUCH FUCKING TIME ALL RIGHT?!!!??!!!"  
  
An uproar began in the airship as everyone prepared for the trip to Mideel. That was almost all the way across the world, but it didn't matter. This was war.  
  
  
  
"Cloud. We can't find anything." Red said, looking around and sniffing the air.  
  
"Oh come on, don't give up." Cloud said. "It's probably hiding."  
  
"Wonder why." Barret mused, amused with the ideas of it either being afraid of them, or actually being out to kill them because the planet thought they were the cause.  
  
"Oh hush, Barret." Tifa scolded. Barret looked critically back her, then continued to scan the hillsides.  
  
Then Red growled under his breath.  
  
Everyone turned to him slowly.  
  
"Red... Please tell you've found the WEAPON and that it isn't that far away..." Tifa pleaded.  
  
"Yes, I think I have found it. But it's not that far away, either." Red replied, looking sternly in the direction of the ocean.  
  
Everyone averted their gazes to the ocean also.  
  
Cid, of course, didn't seem pleased at how calm Red was.  
  
"How the fuck can you be so calm?!" Cid asked.  
  
"I guess I've just never seen then urge to show my whimpness." Red replied with a sly grin.  
  
Cid just cursed under his breath.  
  
Just then Red jolted.  
  
"Watch out!!!" Cloud exclaimed, bringing out his sword.  
  
Everyone got in their respective fighting stances and also took notice in the huge dragon ripping itself slowly out of the water.  
  
It was definently not ULTIMATE... But a different one. One they had never seen before. This one was green colored.  
  
"What the hell is that thing?!" Barret cursed.  
  
"EMERALD WEAPON!" Red warned. "IT'S ONE OF THE MOST DANGEROUS!!! WATCH OUT!"  
  
As soon as it had lifted itself out of the water, the WEAPON starting shooting its own beam cannons at them. Cloud was beginning to wonder if they had tooken lessons from Goku or Vegeta from that show he always watched, Dragon Ball Z.  
  
"Why does every monster we encounter HAVE to have energy beams?!" Reeve whined, darting out of the way of a near by energy beam as it collided with the ground.  
  
"Just the way life works!" Vincent said, taking time to aim a couple of fire bullets at Emerald.  
  
Emerald was taken aback from the fire blows. It was clearly water elemential based.  
  
"Everyone! I think Vincent got something!" Tifa called out to the others. "It's weakness is fire!"  
  
As soon as she had finished, the others started hitting it with all the fire spells and weapons and items they had, arranging from the Fire3 spell to throwing the Flame Staff weapon at Emerald. Vincent just kept repeating his fire shots at the huge dragon to keep it distracted as everyone else beamed it with their fire materia.  
  
"EVERYONE POWER UP YOUR LIMIT BREAKS WHILE IT'S STILL WEAK!" Cloud shouted. They all mumbled in approval and then they all began to think about anything that made them angry to gain the energy for the limit breaks.  
  
"BIG SHOT!" Barret yelled, and powered up a giant, super-sized bullet at the end of his gun arm, and exploded it at the WEAPON.  
  
"Finaaallllllll.... HEAVEN!" Tifa declared as she punched a nice, big fire blast with her fist at Emerald.  
  
Cid flipped his spear and whistled upwards, waving his hand towards the others. Then out of nowhere, the Highwind came into view to make a drop. It let loose six different missles on the WEAPON and then zoomed out of sight before they could get hit.  
  
Reeve concentrated, and then he brought out a controller out of his jacket. As soon as he had fired it up, and old friend of everyone's appeared. Reeve's puppet, Cait Sith.  
  
While little Cait was shouting orders to its mog through his megaphone, Vincent transformed into his beast form, Chaos, and then threw a long chain of deadly skulls and spirits at Emerald WEAPON.  
  
Red looked up to the sky and howled. Even though it was broad daylight, the moon appeared and the night grew dark. Red jumped up into the sky and his paws glowed with fire, and then he let loose his Cosmo Memory limit break and left Emerald WEAPON in a firey pursuit.  
  
Then Cait Sith pulled out his miniture, magical slot machine and spun it. Then Mog grew to the size of WEAPON and started a large, titanic battle between them.  
  
Everyone watched as the two titans exchanged fists and blasts. Finally Mog had done all it could and it shrunk back to normal size. Reeve pressed a button on the controller and Cait waved before disappearing with his mog again into thin air.  
  
Cloud's sword glowed, and he charged at the WEAPON in an onslaught, and then he set a large set of crucial blows with his huge sword into the WEAPON's tough, leathery skin. But nothing could withstand the Ultima Weapon that Cloud held, and green blood fell from the WEAPON as it shreiked in agony. Cloud then jumped up with amazing agility from its foot, to its knee, to its elbow, and to its shoulder, and, finally, its head. He then jumped up once more and slashed it with a finishing blow, causing it to let out one last cry. Cloud quickly darted back to the others to see what would happen next.  
  
Screaming, Emerald WEAPON sunk back into the deep ocean below, and finally disappearing from sight. Everyone watched its shadow in the water as it slipped outwards and below, until they couldn't make it visible no more.  
  
They all relieved when they sought the danger was over, and healed any wounds they had gotten from the first barage of beams.  
  
"Well, that oughta keep out of our hair." Cloud said. Then he paused as everyone turned to look at him as if he had just pulled off a murder. "...Er, for now."  
  
"So, what do we do now, Cloud?" Tifa asked.  
  
"Dunno. But let's go check out Kalm to see if everyone's all right. We DID see Ultimate WEAPON still at large, and last time it was around, it was flying over around that area." Cloud replied.  
  
Everyone nodded.  
  
"Well, let's go." Cid muttered, and they all ambled off towards the Highwind again for the trip to Kalm.  
  
  
  
"Daddy! You're home!!!" Marlene cheered and she ran into Barret's arms.  
  
Barret chuckled and ruffled her hair. "Let's see... How old are you now? Twenty four? Nineteen?" he asked.  
  
"You know how old I am!" Marlene teased. "I'm six years old! I'm a real lady!"  
  
"That's what I thought!" Barret said, and then led Marlene off to Elmyra's house. Everyone else followed in silence.  
  
They entered the little house with awe. Elmyra certainly was a nice housekeeper, and a grand decorator at that. But of course, who else would of taught Aeris?  
  
The house was literally almost covered in flowers, of all colors. Tifa and the others noticed a picture of Aeris and Elmyra on a stand by the fireplace, and was happy to at least see her face in a photograph.  
  
'What a sight for sore eyes.' Tifa thougth with a smile.  
  
"Welcome home." Elmyra greeted them all. Then she turned to Barret, and gave him a critical look. "About time you guys came back for a check in. Your daughter was getting pretty worried and upset!" then she looked down to Marlene. "Weren't you?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips.  
  
"Of course I was!" Marlene replied, immitating Elmyra's gesture and glaring at her father.  
  
Barret grinned. "Hey! Don't blame me! I'm just trying to save the world you kids are gunna run one of these days!" he tried reasoning.  
  
"Well then, why can't I come along?" Marlene asked.  
  
"Because." Barret said, kneeling down to talk to her face to face. "If you should come, and were to get hurt, I don't know what I'd do to myself!"  
  
"Awww..." Marlene began. "I didn't mean to make daddy cry! I'm sorry!"  
  
"It's okay!" Barret said. "I'm not crying!"  
  
Cid snickered silently. Barret glared back at him, and Elmyra laughed softly.  
  
"Hey..." Marlene began, looking over Barret's shoulder at the rest of the group. "Where's Auntie Yuffie???"  
  
Everyone looked at each other uneasily. Should they tell her that Yuffie was a traitor? What if the Turks came by and decided to hold her for ransom? She would need that bit of information just in case. But... How she would take it was the main question.  
  
"Marlene... There's something we have to tell you." Cloud said, stepping up. But Barret immediantly held up a hand. Cloud nodded back to him, and Barret continued Cloud's statement.  
  
"Marlene, if you see Yuffie, run." Barret said. Marlene looked concerned, and mouthed out the word, 'why?' but no words came out. "Because, she's with the Turks. Even if they're not with her, get out of there. She could be bait or even worse, working for them on her own, free will."  
  
"Why is Yuffie with the Turks??" Elmyra asked.  
  
"We don't know. Reno said she did it on her own free will, but then again, he might be lyin'." Barret said.  
  
"And, of course, the brat has been known to be a traitor before." Cid said slowly.  
  
"But what about me?" Reeve asked. "I don't hear you guys griping about ME all the time!"  
  
"Because you came through for us in the end." Cid replied, not bothering to look back at him.  
  
"But Yuffie was also in the fight against Sephiroth WITH us..." Reeve began.  
  
"Let's not start THIS again!" Cid said. Reeve looked at him with an odd expression on his face, and Tifa just giggled.  
  
"You guys, we might want to think about leaving soon." Cloud said.  
  
They all turned to him.  
  
"Come on, spike! Let's just spend the night here and continue on with things tomarrow morning." Barret said.  
  
Cid glared at Barret for taking his nickname for Cloud, but Barret paid no attention to it.  
  
"Hey, daddy!" Marlene said, getting Barret's attention. "I wanna show you a new song that Elmyra tought me on the piano today!" and with that, she dragged him to the ajoined room where the piano was held.  
  
"My, you all can't fit in this tiny house." Elmyra said worridly.  
  
"Don't worry." Cloud said. "We're going to stay in the inn down the street."  
  
"Okay." Elmyra said with a laugh. "See you tomarrow morning. I'll be making pancakes."  
  
"No problem!" Tifa said, and they walked out of the house and towards the inn.  
  
"I wonder what Yuffie's doing?" Red asked them as they walked.  
  
"More or less, what's ShinRa doing to her?" Reeve corrected.  
  
"Well, whatever is going on, I hope she's okay." Tifa said.  
  
"Yeah, so do I. I sort of miss the little squirt." Cid said, taking in a drag of his cig.  
  
  
  
Yuffie was sitting in her dorm... er, jail cell, in the ShinRa building. This had been her new room for the past week, and Yuffie was getting pretty bored of the musty smell that always hung in the air. The sheetrock that showed through the plain, white, wallpaper was also a sign that the building had certainly seen better days.  
  
But something then intersected her thoughts. The door started to creek open. Yuffie's head snapped up and she glared at the doorway as Reno walked into the room. She made no eye contact with him as he sat down on the bed next to her.  
  
"Hey.." He said, looking over to her. "What's up with you?" he asked.  
  
"I want to go home." Yuffie plainly answered.  
  
Reno sighed heavily. "Well, you can't everything you want." he said.  
  
"Yes I can." Yuffie replied.  
  
"Well... I'm sorry, PRINCESS, but that's just the way this world works!" Reno said, taunting her.  
  
Yuffie glared up at him. "Leave this room now or so help me, I'll tear you limb from limb!" she threatened.  
  
"Ooooh! I'm shaking in my boots!" Reno shot back, mockshivering. "Come on, can't you actually pull off your threats? You're nothing but talk!"  
  
"Wanna bet, you stupid jerk!" Yuffie declared, and lunged out at him with her fist. Reno quickly got up and evaded the punch, looking down at her agian. Yuffie immediantly got up and lunged at him again. He stopped her fist from colliding with his face by grabbing it.  
  
'Gawd damnit!! His grip is too strong!' Yuffie thought as she tried to get free. Reno brought her fist up with his, and then began to twist around, making her fall head over heels on to the ground.  
  
"Pretty weak for a ninja if ya ask me." Reno said, glowering down at her. She looked back up at him, glaring. He kneeled down to her, so his nose was only an inch from her own. He slowly grabbed her shoulders and looked at her menacingly. "Without your damn conformer, you can't fight." he said coldly.  
  
Yuffie looked angrily at him. "I can still kick your ass, even without that weapon." she said.  
  
"Look who's got who." Reno said. Yuffie stayed quiet. Reno smirked, and pulled her closer until their noses were practically touching. "You're too weak to be calling yourself a ninja. How DID you think you were going to survive with AVALANCHE against Sephiroth? Just by your luck?" he asked. Yuffie didn't reply. Then Reno pulled away and stood up, looking down at her. "Well, kid, ya got a lotta luck if ya got yerself stuck in this joint." He said, sarcastically.  
  
Yuffie stood up immediantly. At first Reno thought she was going to attack him, but instead she walked over towards the door.  
  
"Nuh-uh!" Reno began, and grabbed her by the shoulder. She turned to face him, not too pleased. "Don't think it'd be good to trust you going out all by yourself!" he said.  
  
"Leave me alone, Reno." Yuffie said, and walked on ahead. Reno followed her all the way, wondering where she was intending on going.  
  
Yuffie peered around a corner, and then, cautiously, moved on. Reno raised an eyebrow, wondering why she was sneeking around if he was with her. Then it appeared to him that she might not know he was still following her. He crept back into the shadows and followed her silently.  
  
'Good, he finally left me alone.' Yuffie thought. 'What a jerk... But still hot as hell...'  
  
She looked both ways. No one in sight. Yuffie then made her move and darted across the open hallway to her next hiding place behind a stack of crates.  
  
'I need to find a way out of here....' That's when she heard something. She whirled around and saw Reno's aquamarine, mako eyes glowing in the darkness beyond her. She screeched and lept back in fright. Then she grumbled when she saw who it was.  
  
"Damnit, Reno! Stop following me!" She hissed.  
  
"Not a chance, brat." Reno said, standing up and folding his arms. "You'd take any chance to get out of here... Though I don't blame you."  
  
Yuffie quirked an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?" she asked.  
  
Reno didn't answer, but simply offered to help her up. She took his hand and stood up.  
  
"Well?" Yuffie asked.  
  
"Listen, I'm not opening up to just anyone. And I won't tell you this, if anyone!" Reno said, and grabbed her wrist. He then started to half drag her back into the direction of her old dorm.  
  
Yuffie grabbed his hand with her free one and tried to pull free. Reno then tried to seize this hand also, but Yuffie soon squirmed out of his grasp, and scrambled away from his as fast as possible.  
  
"Hey! Damn brat!" Reno cursed. Then he ran after Yuffie. "Get back here!" he yelled after her.  
  
'Shit.' Yuffie thought. 'I gotta loose him!' and then she took a left. Reno's footsteps could be heard behind her, and he was getting nearer. He had certainly had better training for this sort of thing than she had.  
  
She took a right. Then a left. Right. Left. Left. And pretty soon she just started taking random turns, having no idea where she was going. And she also began to loose track of the turns she had first tooken, and was completely lost.  
  
Then she came to a four-way intersection. "Damn..." Yuffie muttered under her breath. "Which way?" she looked at her three options. Then she decided to just go straight. This hallway was very long and had about a hundred or so doors on either side. But it also didn't look like it would stop any time soon.  
  
Then she heard a crash behind her. And then a buzz of electricity...  
  
'Oh...shit...' Yuffie thought as she turned around in fright.  
  
Another crackle of lightning hit the corner and just after it had cleared, Reno ran around the corner and then stopped and stared at Yuffie.  
  
"Damn, and I thought *I* was lost..." Yuffie muttered.  
  
Reno held up his nightstick defensively. "Yuff, I don't want to have to do this, but if forced to, I will." he said slowly.  
  
"LEAVE ME ALONE AND GET ME THE HELL OUT OF HERE!!!" Yuffie screamed, and then she powered up for her All Creation limit break. But before she could do anything, Reno stepped forward and pushed the button on his night stick. Enough electricity came out so that she was stunned. Yuffie crumpled to the ground and looked in the direction her eyes were fixed. Up.  
  
She couldn't move any of her muscles. This had never happened to her before. What the hell did he do to her?  
  
"Yuff, don't worry, I just stunned you. I'll have to get you back to your dorm or Rufus will kick my ass." Reno said, stepping into her viewline and looking down at her with hurt eyes.  
  
'Why the hell does he have that look on his face...?' Yuffie thought. 'He shouldn't care. He's supposed to be merciless!'  
  
Reno then kneeled down and swung Yuffie over his shoulder and began to carry her back to the jail cells. He winced when he heard her whimper, "I wanna go home...please take me back home..." but kept going, knowing all too well what the consequences were going to be for Reeve, let alone him if he dared to let Yuffie escape the ShinRa Tower alive.  
  
"Yuff... This isn't my fault..." Reno tried to say, but it came out mostly wordless, though his mouth said the words.  
  
As soon as he reached the prison cells, Rufus' voice came over the intercom. Reno looked up at the sound of his boss and wondered if he had any new orders for them.  
  
"This is Rufus... Turks, get up here in the office with the girl immediantly, I've got new orders for you. That is all."  
  
Then the intercom announcment ended. Reno looked over to Yuffie, who was looking at him from his shoulder, with a scared look on her face.  
  
"What is going to do with me this time...?" she asked him.  
  
"Dunno." Reno answered. "Let's go find out, shall we?" and then he set her down, took hold of her wrist, and dragged her along to the elevator.  
  
  
  
"NOOO!!! FATHER!!!!" Tifa screamed. She ran to her father's side and held his limp body, sobbing. When she heard footsteps leading away, she looked up, glaring at the black caped man with pure malice in her eyes.  
  
"I can't believe you!" Tifa declared. "Murderer!"  
  
But he did not respond. He kept walking away, towards the Nibelheim moutains.  
  
She was fed up with it, she had to put a stop to this before something bad even began. As if it could get much worse, she thought. She ran back to her house, crying and covering her mouth the whole way to avoid breathing in the smoke of the fire that burned her skin as she walked through. Once she got to her room, she turned around as she heard a big crash. The stairs had gotten so weak from the fire that they had collapsed.  
  
"Shit..." She cursed under her breath. Then she ran to her bed and grabbed her sword. Picking it up, she remember what her trainer, Zangan, had said to her.  
  
"Never give up."  
  
She grew even more angry at the thought of what Sephiroth had done to him. The same thing he had done to her own dad. He had ruthelessly murdered both of them, skewering each with his sword and twisting it slowly, making it as painful as possible, and then, he had let them fall and bleed to death if they weren't already.  
  
Tifa pinned the sword in the strap on her back and kneeled on her bed to her window. She untied the knot as quickly as possible and shook the latch off. Then she threw the windows open and took a fresh gasp of fresh air. Then she saw Cloud going into one of the buildings.  
  
"Good ol' Cloud..." Tifa thought with a smile. "Always trying to help..." But then she thought about what house he had gone in. His own. She frowned at the thought of Mrs. Strife... She wouldn't of survived. There was just no way she could.  
  
Tifa climbed out of her window with a new grown vigor and lept off the roof. Landing softly on the ground, she drew her sword and ran towards the Nibelheim Reactor, not taking any notice at any monsters causing havoc around her...  
  
--FLASH--  
  
She ran up the stairs to Sephiroth, remembering all her training from Zangan, and drew her sword up, tears in her eyes, and before she could strike, he swept up at her with catlike reflexes and dove the sword across her chest and upwards to her chin. The blow sent her flying to the bottom stair, and she watched helplessly as Sephiroth stalked into JENOVA's room. That was where Zack was...  
  
Then, behind her, a SOLDIER entered the room. Tifa looked up at him from her disabled position on the ground. The SOLDIER picked her up and carried her, and then set her down gently out of the line of fire.  
  
"Cloud..." she murmered.  
  
The SOLDIER nodded, and then ran up the stairs, drawing his sword. Then, Zack came flying through the doors of JENOVA's room, blood splurting on the near cells, and he landed on the ground in a big heap. Cloud then ran into the room.  
  
Sephiroth came out, moments later, Cloud trailing right behind him. When they had gotten to the room beyond the room Tifa was in, she could still see them through the doorway. As Sephiroth whirled around at Cloud, Tifa mouthed a single word.  
  
"No..."  
  
And that's when Sephiroth dove his sword right through SOLDIER Cloud Strife's chest...  
  
And just as that happened, it all turned black. And then a face with mako eyes and black, spikey hair shown through the darkness. He replied with one phrase that would change her thoughts about everything that had happened thus far...  
  
"I'm not dead..."  
  
  
  
Tifa's eyes snapped open immediantly. What a horrible dream. She certainly didn't want to see what she had just seen ever again. But why did Zack say that he wasn't dead? Surely it was just an emphasizing. Her mind was clearly too tired to care. She sat up in her bed in the hotel room she was in. Cloud was sleeping across the room from her in his own bed, and it didn't look like he was having a dream at all.  
  
Tifa sat back down and tried to go to sleep again. But nothing would work. After about another hour, she got up out of her bed, and decided to go do something. Walking across the hall in the quiet hotel, she looked around. Trying to remember where the lobby was, she felt her way through the darkeness, going down three flights of stairs. Finally, she reached it.  
  
The only sign of anything living was the fact that the moon was shining through the huge windows to the side. She was still only on the third floor, and didn't really care how big the hotel was. She took her place in a maroon colored armchair in front of the window and gazed up at the moon bordly. She thought about things. Things she had never even considered. Things about what could happen. Where Yuffie was. What Rufus' next step would be. What Sephiroth would be planning next. If JENOVA was still alive.  
  
But most importantly, why was Zack in her dream?  
  
She was starting to doze off when she heard hissed words from outside in the hall. She perked up immediantly and kept silent, straining her ears to hear every word as possible. This could be valuable information.  
  
"What did Rufus mean by 'threatening'?!" an all-too-familiar voice could be heard.  
  
"Yuff, you know as well as I do. We gotta find AVALANCHE and threaten them with you..." Reno's voice. Definently his voice. The drall could not be mistaken.  
  
"Ugh! Let me go!" Yuffie screeched, but Reno clasped his hand over her mouth.  
  
Then the doors of the lobby swung open. Tifa kept in a position so nobody could see that she was in the chair from their position.  
  
"Yuffie, if you don't shut the hell up I'm going to stun you right here!" Reno hissed, talking to her as if she were a little child. This mad her mad.  
  
Yuffie drew back a hand and slapped him.  
  
"Don't talk to me like that!" she hissed back.  
  
Tifa turned her head and spied on the situation. It was definently Yuffie. Reno grabbed her wrist and shoved it down, looking at her straight in the eye. Then he spoke, in a very slow, and of course, hard tone, "Yuffie... You know I do not want to hurt you so why don't you just STOP while you're ahead!"  
  
"Why don't you want to hurt me?!" Yuffie mocked, but in a more serious tone then intended.  
  
Frusterated, Reno grumbled. But even from where she was, Tifa could hear what he had said.  
  
"Yuff...Please stop! I don't want to hurt you and that's that!"  
  
Yuffie sighed hopelessly.  
  
"I just don't want to do this to them..." she said in a pouting voice.  
  
Tifa then lept out from her position, bringing up one of her fists. Yuffie and Reno stumbled in disbelief and surprise as she had appeared.  
  
"Tifa!" Yuffie said, startled.  
  
"Geh!" Reno said, then cursed under his breath.  
  
"Let her go!" Tifa barked.  
  
"Not a chance!" Reno yelled back.  
  
Tifa then took out a materia and casted bolt on Reno. Reno quickly absorbed the attack, having the electricity as an element, and then prepared to attack her also. Tifa ran up and dove to punch him, but Yuffie dove in the way and took the hit.  
  
"Yuffie! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Tifa exclaimed.  
  
"I don't really know..." Yuffie muttered, glaring back at Reno.  
  
"You keep forgeting!" Reno said. As Tifa dove at him again, he grabbed one of her fists and held it with a very strong grip. Then he said slowly and quietly, almost in a whisper when he was nose to nose with her. "She's one of us."  
  
"ONE OF YOU?! SHE'D NEVER WANT TO BE!!!" Tifa screamed, ripping away from Reno and bringing out an earth materia and casted Quake3 on him. Reno stumbled as the ground under him shook. One of the most biggest weaknesses of Electricity based fighters always included earth magic.  
  
Then Cloud and the others busted through the door to the lobby. Reno and Yuffie whirled to look behind them.  
  
"Yuffie! We don't know what's going on, but I've got one question for you!" Reeve said, stepping in front of all the others. "Are you doing this by force or by your OWN free will?!"  
  
Yuffie thought for a second. Why WAS she doing this...? She looked over at Reno. Was it for him? For herself? To show her dad she wasn't just a goody two-shoes all the time? To show everyone else she wasn't that easy to understand? That she was unique?  
  
"Yuffie. Answer this question." Reeve said in a harsh voice. Yuffie looked up at him. "Now."  
  
"I DON'T KNOW!!!!!" Yuffie screamed and then powered up her All Creation on the group. Tifa watched in horror as her friends got blowed back and across the room, and she dove behind one of the chairs as the blow neared. When she looked up, all of her comrades were sprawled across the floor, trying to get up, and all the furniture, blown apart. The only ones standing were Reno and Yuffie.  
  
Reno slowly lowered his arms from shielding his eyes and looked at the sprawled group, amazed. Yuffie was standing there, heaving in deep breaths, furious.  
  
'She's confused...' Tifa took a guess.  
  
Everyone had gotten up by now, and Tifa walked over to them, not taking an eye off of their enemies.  
  
"We should call Barret over here..." Cloud said. "We need his help."  
  
"Good idea." Reeve said, and then punched in a few numbers in his PHS.  
  
Reno brought up his nightstick and prepared to charge it at the little celluar phone...  
  
  
  
Ring.... Ring.... Ring....  
  
"What the..?" Barret mumbled. He opened his eyes.  
  
Ring.... Ring.... Ring....  
  
"Damn phone." he grunted and sat on the edge of his bed. He picked up the PHS and answered sleepily, "What is it this time?"  
  
"Barret! Trouble in the hotel! Reno's---*BZZT*" came Reeve's voice, but then all he heard was static.  
  
"Shi'..." Barret began, jumping out of the bed, and swept out the door while grabbing a couple potions and ethers. There was no time to loose...  
  
  
  
ZZZAAAPPPP!  
  
Reeve's PHS was hit full force. He immediantly dropped it like a hot potatoe and watched it hit the ground. It twitched a couple of times and then lay still.  
  
"Damn..!" he cursed, looking up at Reno.  
  
Reno smirked, lowering his nightstick. "I appear to remember that you have a little death penalty to take care of, eh Reeve?" he asked, his smirk broadening.  
  
"Reno...Don't." Yuffie begged.  
  
Reno looked over to her. 'Damn!' he thought. 'Yuff please don't give me that look!! You're not making it any easier!' and then he thought about it for a second. 'Wait... I won't do it! I'll call the others in for reinforcements so THEY can end up doing it! Good idea, Reno!'  
  
Reno reached into his pocket and got out his own PHS. He dialed in a number and then called Rufus.  
  
"Yeah, er, boss. I'll need some reinforcements. They've outnumbered me... oh.. Oh! Okay." He finished by clicking it off and put it back in his pocket, smirking triumphantly.  
  
"You are a sick man." Cloud snarled. "Calling others to do your dirty work."  
  
Reno lept back. "How do YOU know what I'm planning?!" he exclaimed.  
  
"Us SOLDIERs think alike?" Cloud suggested.  
  
Reno frowned. "Don't you EVER compare me to one of THOSE low- ranking wannabes!" he growled. "Unless YOU want to be electricuted also!"  
  
"You were once a SOLDIER, Reno!" Cloud declared.  
  
"I was NOT!!" Reno refused, bringing up his nightstick.  
  
"Well you had to have started somewhere!" Tifa suggested.  
  
"I was led into being a turk, and that's where I am now!" Reno said. "End of story!" he finished by swiping his hands out in both directions to emphasize his point that the discussion was closed.  
  
But it wasn't.  
  
"Why do you have mako eyes?" Cloud asked slowly.  
  
Reno looked at him in disbelief. Did he really have mako eyes...? No! He was playing a joke on him! He had plain, regular, blue eyes! They weren't mako!  
  
"I do NOT have mako eyes! They're cyan!" Reno refused.  
  
"Hey, Reno? What's wrong?" Cid taunted. "Loosing your cool, hot shot?"  
  
Reno furiated. "TURK LIGHT!!!" he yelled, and blasted them all with a high bold of electricity from his nightstick, concentrated all his energy on the one blow.  
  
But then Barret swept through the door and countered it with his Ultima materia.  
  
Unfortunately, he hit Yuffie also.  
  
Since Reno had magic abosorbing armor on, he wasn't affected as much as Yuffie. She screamed and fell to the floor, holding her chest in pain.  
  
Reno turned and glared at Barret. He was now beyond furious and in the level of almost reaching a fit. His nightstick glowed, and then he casted a new limit break on Barret that they had never seen before.  
  
"SONIC WAVE!!" he screamed as he blasted Barret with a wave of sound drills. So high pitched, that it blew Barret across the room. He ricochaded off the wall and into the maroon colored chair in a position that was probably impossible to make.  
  
As soon as Reno had calmed down, he kneeled down to Yuffie and spoke in her ear. She nodded at each statement he had asked her.  
  
'What are they talking about...?' Tifa wondered.  
  
Reno got up, looking at them, most unpleased. "Yuffie asked why she was hit in the process!" he yelled at Barret as he stood up from the fall.  
  
Barret stumbled, looking at him. "Becuz..." he began. "She's one of you foo's... She can't be trusted any more..."  
  
"What?!" Tifa asked. "She's still our friend! I know it!" she declared, trying to reason with everyone.  
  
"Tifa, I think that's something we'll have to accept. She's not with us anymore." Cloud said. Tifa turned and looked at him, hopelessly.  
  
"That's not true! It can't be!" she argued.  
  
"Oh. It is."  
  
They all turned, including Yuffie and Reno, to the door. There stood Rufus, with Rude and Elena at his sides. Rufus held open his big, white trenchcoat, revealing all of the weapons and ammunition that he had. He dropped the sides of his coat back to their former positions, and drew his three-barrel shot gun and cocked it. He had the most wicked grin that even made Rude and Elena uncomfortable.  
  
"Um... Boss?" Elena asked, tapping on his shoulder. Rufus turned to her, a disgusted look on his face. "What are we going to do... exactly?"  
  
"Oh, you'll find out." Rufus replied, his wicked smile returning to his lips.  
  
"That doesn't sound good..." Rude mumbled, but not even Rufus could hear him.  
  
Rufus turned back to AVALANCHE, grinning. "Oh, I have been waiting for this opportunity for a very, very long time." he said.  
  
Red tensed up. "What are you going to do?!" he growled.  
  
Rufus laughed softly. "How pathetic. You can't stop me. Now, it's time for you to die... I'll start with the torture.." he said.  
  
AVALANCHE looked at him questionably, but Tifa had a feeling about what was going to happen.  
  
Rufus smirked oddly, and then he turned to Reno. "Reno, bring be the girl." he said calmly. Almost too calmly.  
  
Reno hesitated. He looked at the big, three-barrel shot gun in Rufus' hand. 'Oh shit... He can't... He wouldn't!' Reno thought. "Um... sir?" he ventured. Rufus looked at him, puzzled. "If I may ask of something? Why... her?" Reno asked slowly, yet, instead of his usual drawl, in a voice that almost made him seem like he was scared.  
  
"Oh, it's so simple, Reno." Rufus began, "Because she's in our custody." then she grinned again, resting the gun on his shoulder, "And because she's the youngest. They'll feel sooo bad when they find out they were the cause of the little, innocent one's death!" he finished, triumphantly at the ingenious of his plan. He chuckled softly.  
  
Yuffie stepped back, away from Rufus, for she had noticed his gun not that long after he had entered the room. Reno held out his hand and held her wrist softly, giving her a gesture so she wouldn't run.  
  
"No!" Tifa screamed at Rufus. "DON'T!!!"  
  
But, to Rufus' surprise, Reno didn't move to fulfill his demand. Rufus looked at him critically, his smile turning into a frown. "Reno...?" he asked softly, yet dangerously. "Why are you hesitating?"  
  
Reno stood and thought a few moments, and then looked back up at Rufus. His eyes were dangerously glowing, but he didn't care if they showed sign that he was a SOLDIER. "No..." he began in a low growl. "You're not going to have her, you bastard."  
  
Rufus' grin returned to his face and he brought the gun off from his shoulder and let it dangle along with his arm, and rested his other arm on his hip lazily. "Oh?" he asked. "Why not?"  
  
"Because." Rude spoke up, walking over to Reno's side.  
  
Rufus tensed up and gripped his shotgun. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" he yelled at him.  
  
Elena walked over to Reno's other side casually, and then turned to face Rufus. "Giving you the slip." she said calmly.  
  
"WHO'S SIDE ARE YOU ON?!" Rufus yelled, agitated, and then began to rise his gun at them.  
  
Reno looked at Rufus coldly. "I thought YOU would of known..." he began, his lazy drawl returning to his voice. He flicked his nightstick up and rested the tip of it on his shoulder. "All Turks stick together." he stated.  
  
"No matter what." Rude continued, fixing his shades to be exact.  
  
"That's the spirit!" Elena said, triumphantly. "Believe it, carrot-top!" and she pointed at Rufus, emphasizing the last bit that it was being directed at him.  
  
Rufus lowered the gun. And then, through gritted teeth, he growled, "Hand over the girl..."  
  
"No." Reno simply answered, standing his ground.  
  
Then an idea hit Rufus. 'Oh no... He likes her! I know it! I guess Tseng made a mistake by picking him up and presuming, since his life had been tooken away completly, that he wouldn't have any feelings for anyone anymore... Because it looks like he does...'  
  
Then Rufus frowned at Reno. "Reno..." he said slowly and dangerously calmly, "PLEASE don't tell me that... you... like... her..."  
  
Reno looked at him with a smirk. Then he looked at Yuffie, winked, and then turned back to Rufus. "What if I do? What are ya gunna do 'bout it?" he asked.  
  
Yuffie blushed crimson. 'Oh gawd...' she thought.  
  
'He... likes her?!' Tifa thought. 'Is that why...???'  
  
Rufus shot a cold glare over in Tifa's direction. Tifa wasn't that far away, probably only about five feet. "FINE THEN!!" he said, raged. "THEN I'LL START WITH HER!!!" and he lunged at her.  
  
Tifa squeaked and then went to punch at him, but then Rufus blocked, and then he grabbed her around her neck by his free arm, and set the barrel of his shot gun to her temple. Tifa gasped for air, wriggling and trying to get away desperately.  
  
"TIFA!" Cloud yelled, chancing to grab at her, but Rufus yanked her away, backing up across the room and towards the window.  
  
"Don't come any more closer, or I'll shoot..." Rufus grunted, usuing all of his stength to lug Tifa to the window.  
  
"Rufus if you even dare take a shot at her, I swear, I'm going to--" Reno began, but then was cut off.  
  
"TRY AS YOU MIGHT!!" Rufus yelled back at them. "BUT I'LL ALREADY BE DEAD! IT'S ALL CAME DOWN TO THIS! MY ONLY FEAR IS THAT I WON'T DIE, NOW! I WANT TO GIVE YOU AVALANCHE GUYS A LIVING HELL BEFORE I EVER DIE! THAT'S WHY I LIVED THROUGH DIAMOND WEAPON'S BLAST!" he grinned, getting ready to pull the trigger. He returned to his calm voice again. "...Nobody can stop me now."  
  
"That's not true, Rufus!" Reeve argued.  
  
"What if you lived for something else?" Red suggested.  
  
"STOP IT WITH YOUR LIES!!" Rufus yelled back, and then drew back his finger...  
  
"YOU FUCKING BASTARD! YOU CAN'T EVEN TELL HOW YOU SURVIVED!" Cid yelled.  
  
But then a flash came down from the rafters...  
  
Rufus took a chance glance at what it was, but the figure was already upon him. It was a man, no doubt. He grabbed Rufus' gun and threw it out the window, breaking the glass and making the whole thing shatter.  
  
Tifa scrambled away, gasping for air, and then she almost landed on the ground, but Cloud caught her, and spoke comforting words into her ear, kissing her hair softly.  
  
Then a struggle began. Rufus broke free, and then he ran for the window. But then the figure grabbed him by the arm and flunged him with great strength across the room like a rag doll.  
  
"What do you want from me?" Rufus gasped. Then, tears in his eyes, he let out another sentence, "Just let me die, already..."  
  
The figure stepped up to Rufus, and looked down at him pathetically. He then looked up to the other members of AVALANCHE.  
  
"We must leave, now. Before ShinRa gets here." the figure spoke.  
  
"Who are you?" Red asked.  
  
"Just come, hurry!" and then the figure ran out of the room.  
  
Everyone, including the Turks and Yuffie, followed the mysterious figure out of the room. They could already hear sirens and helicopters approaching.  
  
'No...' Cloud thought as they made their escape. He took a glance up at the figure. 'Is it... you?'  
  
'Hey, Cloud!' an old friend had said to him once. 'Let's run off and be mercenaries together! A team!'  
  
'It is...' he confirmed himself. "I can tell..." he mumbled.  
  
"Tell what?" Tifa asked him.  
  
Cloud shook his head. "Nothing..."  
  
  
  
The figure had led them to a cave, nearby the town of Kalm. They all looked around. It had a stange tint of mako to its walls, so no doubt that it was another mako mine that ShinRa hadn't discovered.  
  
"Who are you?" Cloud asked, stepping forward, and setting Tifa down on one of the rocks. Tifa sat up to a more comfortable position and looked at the figure worridly.  
  
"Cloud... You don't recognize me...?" the figure asked.  
  
'Oh my god!' Tifa thought. 'That voice... From my dream!'  
  
"Zack...?" Cloud ventured a guess.  
  
The figure nodded, and then finally stepped into the light, showing his face. He was older, now. But his black, long, spikey hair still was the same. He wore the same SOLDIER uniform, and had gotten a new sword in the process.  
  
"So... You remember?" Zack asked. Then he eyed Cloud's own sword. Which he knew was his. "And, you've kept my sword in well shape, as to be expected from you." he said with a smile.  
  
"Whoa whoa whoa... whoa!" Barret began, trying to set something straight. "Let me get this.. Zack? Cloud? Isn't that the guy who you went to Nibelheim with? The legendary SOLDIER you've told us about?  
  
Zack smirked. "That's about it." he confirmed. "Sephiroth's shadow."  
  
"Wait..." Reeve began. "Are you with Sephiroth..?"  
  
Zack shook his head. "After he killed my girlfriend?! No way!" he said.  
  
"Girlfriend??" they all asked.  
  
"Cloud...? Do you know anyone named Zack?"  
  
"Aeris." Zack confirmed. "Which is exaclty why I need your help."  
  
"Why?" Cloud asked.  
  
"Aeris... we need her back. She'll know for sure how to put JENOVA away for good." Zack said. They all paused. "I need you guys to help me revive her."  
  
There was a long pause after that.  
  
Cid broke it. "Well! There's no fucking reason why the hell not!" he said.  
  
Zack grinned. "You're quite a lively fellow." he said. "What's your name?"  
  
"The name's Cid. I'm the main pilot around here. Ya wanna go somewhere, by damn I'll get ya there faster than anybody else!" Cid said with swelling pride.  
  
Zack turned to everyone else. "Please, introduce yourselves." he asked.  
  
"Tifa Lockheart." Tifa said. "I'm the tourguide."  
  
"Ah... I remember you." Zack said.  
  
"Red XIII..." Red said. "Just call me Red. But my real name is Nanaki."  
  
"Barret, foo'!" Barret said, raising his gun into the air. "Da whole leader behind all this!"  
  
"Vincent." Vincent said. "Don't ask any questions."  
  
"I'm Reeve. I used to be a part of ShinRa... but..." Reeve hesitated. "I quit."  
  
Zack snickered. Then he turned to the Turks.  
  
"What?" Reno asked.  
  
"What's your names?" Zack asked.  
  
"My name's Reno. Leader of the Turks." Reno answered. "I thought you would of remembered."  
  
"Where's Tseng?" Zack asked.  
  
"Dead." Reno answered back, not showing a bit of intrest in Zack at all.  
  
"Oh... Sorry to hear that..." Zack said, getting the feeling he wasn't wanted.  
  
"My name's Elena." Elena said.  
  
"....Rude." Rude said, not taking participation to say anything more.  
  
Zack then turned to Yuffie.  
  
"Hey.. Aren't you...?" He began.  
  
"What?" Yuffie asked, her eyes going wide with innocence.  
  
"The princess of Wutai?" Zack asked.  
  
"I prefer either the term, 'The Lord's Daughter' or my name, Yuffie Kisaragi." Yuffie said simply, going back to checking her materia.  
  
"Oh." Zack said shortly.  
  
"Zack, how are we going to revive Aeris?" Cloud asked.  
  
"We need the white materia." Zack said.  
  
"But Sephiroth has it." Tifa said worridly.  
  
"Well, it won't be so hard to find him." Zack replied.  
  
Cloud nodded. "Let's start then. The sun's rising and it's a new day." he said.  
  
But then he stopped. He suddenly turned to the Turks. "What are you guys going to do now?" then he directed his attention to Yuffie. "Yuffie, who's side are you on?"  
  
"We have officially been fired." Reno said. "No doubt about it, and Rufus is going to be after us. Of course, since it IS our fault..." he paused. "We can't afford to let you get in the way. They'll be after to kill us. And no doubt, Yuffie as well. And since this is my mess, I'll protect her."  
  
"Then what are you going to do in the meantime?" Cloud asked.  
  
"We'll be a second eye for Sephiroth." Reno explained.  
  
"Wait..." Barret began, looking at them critically. "How do we know we can trust you...?"  
  
"Don't know. You're just going to have to go with your own instincts." Reno replied.  
  
"Well, in that case, you're going to need our PHS number." Reeve said.  
  
Reno nodded. "That would work."  
  
Elena looked worried. "What will Rufus do to us if he finds us?" she asked Reno.  
  
Reno turned to her. "Who knows? Maybe we'll suffer Reeve's old fate also." he answered.  
  
Elena blinked.  
  
After Reeve had given Reno their PHS number, they started to walk out of the cave.  
  
"So, I guess this is it." Cloud said.  
  
"Yeah, see ya, Cloud." Reno said, nodding off to him.  
  
"By the way, the way your eyes glowed.. That proves it." Cloud said with a smirk.  
  
Reno smiled jokingly back at him. "Yeah, I guess it does." and then he started leading the others off across the hilltops, towards the Chocobo Farm.  
  
"Bye, Yuffie." Tifa said.  
  
Yuffie turned to Tifa. She stared at her for a second, and then nodded, smiling. "See ya." she answered, and then went to catch up with the others.  
  
"I hope they know what they're doing." Zack said. "But I have a feeling we'll meet up with them."  
  
"Come on! We gotta get to my Highwind!" Cid complained. "What if it rusted?!" and then he started to amble off towards the other direction where the Highwind could be seen from a distance. Everyone groaned and followed him, not even caring if it actually did rust overnight...  
  
  
  
~~~~  
  
Yeah, how did you like it? Tell me if you want me to type up more... Please review in that lil box! Yeah, that one down there! Thanx~! ~Chuu  
  
~~~~ 


	6. No Need For Materia

Chapter Six  
  
  
  
They were all on the Highwind. Cloud had called another meeting at the infirmary and they had all just gotten there for further instructions on the mission.  
  
"So... Aeris can be ressuructed?" Cloud asked Zack, who was sitting across the table from him. Zack nodded in confirmation. "Are you absolutely sure?" Cloud asked.  
  
"I am. Unless the white materia is destroyed, there is a chance." Zack said.  
  
"Yeah, because Sephiroth revived himself." Tifa suggested.  
  
"No. He didn't." Zack said.  
  
"What? Then who did?" Barret questioned.  
  
"I don't know. Only a loved one could revive an ancient." Zack said.  
  
"But who does SEPHIROTH have a crush on???" Cid asked. "His damn face is enough to make people run away, screaming."  
  
"A lot of people love their own mothers." Red suggested.  
  
They all thought about that.  
  
"Red has a point." Cloud stated. "It was most likely JENOVA..."  
  
"That's why you had a psycho fit before Sephiroth was revived? Because JENOVA was around?" Reeve asked.  
  
Cloud nodded. "Makes the most sense thus far." he said grimly.  
  
"So, where the hell do we go first?" Cid asked.  
  
"Oh, I got an idea." Zack said. They all turned their attention to him. "Might as well start with Icicle Inn."  
  
"Good idea. He's probably trying to get back to the crater, even as we speak." Cloud said.  
  
"But HE doesn't have a fucking airship!" Cid noted with a grin. Everyone else laughed.  
  
"Um... You guys?" Tifa asked. They all looked to her. Then Tifa turned to Zack. "Exactly how can we revive Aeris?" she asked him.  
  
Zack snapped his fingers. "Ya know what? I'll tell you! Okay, so, Aeris has a loved one, which of course, is her boyfriend, which is, of course, me, Zack!" he paused and scratched the back of his head nervously. Then he continued. "Okay, so I get the white materia, with your help, of course, and then we go to her burial place. Her body should still be in the same condition, since she was a. buried in water b. it wasn't much more then a month ago when she died and c. that just doesn't happen to Cetra." he paused a while to make sure everyone was getting what he was saying. "Okay, as I continue, we find her body, and then I use the materia and chant out the command, 'Holy Yell!!' which will bring down the summon, Ange, and he will revive Aeris Gainsbrough!!!" he concluded, standing up and twirling his sword Cloud-style.  
  
"So, that's it?" Red observed. "Seems pretty simple. This should be easy enough to get done in less then a week's time."  
  
"Yeah, all we gotta do is find Sephiroth." Reeve stated.  
  
"At least we're getting somewhere." Vincent said.  
  
"ARRIVING ICICLE INN!" a crew member shouted over the intercom.  
  
"Come on, whimps!" Cid said and ran out to the deck. Everyone followed.  
  
  
  
Why should I trust you?  
  
Because.  
  
Why?  
  
Because you can.  
  
I can never trust a Midgarian street punk like you!  
  
You've trustded me thus far.  
  
Only because I value my life. Now I have a chance to escape!  
  
Do you really want to?  
  
...  
  
Well?  
  
No...  
  
Why? Why can't you trust me?  
  
One:Because you're nothing but a street punk who only cares about money!  
  
...(Not true...)  
  
Two:I've only stayed with you so far because I had no other choice!  
  
...(You did too...)  
  
Three:Because... I like...you...  
  
You do not.  
  
I do, too. I admit it.  
  
If you like me, then why would you not trust me?  
  
Because... I have my reasons.  
  
Didn't you just name them?  
  
You're apart of the same company that ruined my life!!!  
  
It wasn't supposed to turn out that way, though!  
  
I don't want you to get any closer to me!  
  
Why not?! Can't you see! We're in this together...  
  
Why don't you just go along with your comrades? I'm certain they'd be better company than a stingy little brat, like me.  
  
You're all equal to me as comrades, damnit, why can you even see that?!  
  
Because I don't want you to get any closer to me! That's why!  
  
Why don't you want me to get close to you?! Damnit, I love you...  
  
No... It wasn't supposed to turn out this way...  
  
...?  
  
No... I promised to not love anyone else or get close to anyone ever since...  
  
Since what?  
  
...  
  
Yuff...  
  
Leave me alone! By the time you wake up, I'll be gone!  
  
YUFFIE!! DON'T GO OUT ALONE!!  
  
...............  
  
Yuffie! Get back here!  
  
Why do you care?  
  
  
  
'I don't really know...' Reno thought. He then instantly snapped awake. What was that? Was that all just a dream? "Oh, shit..." he sat up and looked around. He was still in his tent. They had decided to camp out overnight and then continue in the morning...  
  
He quickly got up out of his sleeping bag and then unzipped his tent. Frantically, he ran to Yuffie's and peered inside. She was gone, along with all of her stuff. The tent was empty except for her sleeping bag and a small pillow.  
  
"Yuffie..." Reno said wordlessly and then ran for the only direction she could of gone. She couldn't of gone south, there was a river there. To the east there was a giant cliff. To the west there was ocean, right after the forest's end. But north...  
  
'She's going to Nibelheim...' Reno thought, and then he sprinted in that direction, not even thinking twice about his actions.  
  
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
Reno's head spun in the direction of the scream. He was indeed going the right way. That was Yuffie! But how far away was she from him?  
  
'Damn, I hope I'm not too late...' he pleaded. As he ran, he heard her scream again and winced, imagining all the terrible things that could be going on. Then he heard a huge crash from the direction of Yuffie's cries, and then he sped up considerably.  
  
He ran through Nibelheim has quick as possible and was up the moutains in no time. There was a large monster that could barely be visible from behind the moutains.  
  
'Holy shit!' Reno thought. 'That thing's fucking HUGE...!!'  
  
Then he turned the last corner and came face to face with the situation he had been dreading. Yuffie was on her knees, shielding herself from any oncoming blows. In front of her was a huge monster. Almost as tall as Mount Nibel itself. It was like a big, red, mechanical like dragon and it had claws that were half the size of its whole body. Then Reno remembered that he had heard of this monster before. It was one of the WEAPONs! But which one? Since it was red, he guessed there was only option. It was Ruby WEAPON.  
  
"Yuffie!" Reno said and ran to her side, kneeling down to her. The WEAPON watched as if waiting for them to make the first attack. But Reno was too interested in Yuffie's health to give a damn about the WEAPON.  
  
"Yuffie, are you okay??" he asked.  
  
"Yes..." Yuffie gasped. Then she looked up at the WEAPON. Reno followed her gaze. "It just came out of nowhere... I didn't know what to do so I ran... It just attacked me for no reason!"  
  
That was when Ruby had enough of being ignored. It reared up, roaring and then dug its huge claws into the ground. The claws looped into the ground and back up inside the moutain. Then the tips came out right behind Yuffie and Reno, resulting in braking the ledge that they were on. Yuffie screamed and immediantly clung to Reno as he grabbed another nearby ledge. Yuffie started sobbing pitifully.  
  
"We're gunna die we're gunna die we're gunna die..." she whimpered. "We're gunna die all because of some big, ugly, demon red monster that attacks innocent bystander... We're gunna die without a purpose... We're gunna die we're gunna die we're gunna- -"  
  
"Yuff! Don't say that!" Reno said through gritted teeth as he tried to pull them back up. It was no use. The ledge was way too small for even just one of them to fi t. Then he noticed it cracked.  
  
Yuffie let out another cry and whimpered, gripped a better hold around Reno's waist, sobbing into his navy blue jacket.  
  
'Huh?' Reno thought. Then he caught something moving out of the corner of his eye. All the sudden a blast hit Ruby WEAPON and out of nowhere Rude and Elena appeared and started hitting it with their strongest summons. Reno looked down at Yuffie. She was way too traumatized to even realize what was going on. 'Damn, she's having a nervous breakdown! I would of thought she'd get some sense like she did back at Da Chou... Wait... We're at least a thousand more feet up then we were back there! Damn!' Then his free hand slipped down to her shorts. Yuffie immediantly looked up at him, puzzled. Then she looked as though she was ready slap him, but thought the better of it and just clung to him tighter.  
  
"What are you doing...???" she wined.  
  
He reached into one of her pockets and began feeling around. Until his hand clenched around a single orb, and in his mind he knew it was the right one. Yuffie's eyes went wide. Reno pulled out Yuffie's Knights Of The Round materia from her pocket and then threw it up into the air.  
  
"EAT THIS, RUBY!!" he shouted at the monster. It turned around, its tail slashing all the moutains in its path, utterly destrooying them, and then it prepared to slice its claws at him again. Reno's eyes flared like they did back in Kalm...  
  
"ULTIMATE END!!!!"  
  
With that, the WEAPON was sucked into the deepness and darkness of Hell as it was given the most fatal blows by the thirteen knights of the round table and, in the end, even King Arthur himself. It appeared and crashed to the ground, shaking the whole world. Then their ledge broke, and Reno and Yuffie went sprawling down towards the ground at least two thousand feet below.  
  
Then the red materia zoomed by Yuffie. She reached out her hand and caught it, stuffing it back into her pocket.  
  
"YUFFIE HOW COULD YOU THINK OF MATERIA IN A TIME LIKE THIS?!!!" Reno exclaimed, not to far behind her in the fall.  
  
Then Yuffie looked down. They were going to hit ground in at least two minutes. It was a slow fall, but they were going pretty damn fast.  
  
"There has to be a way I can get us out of this!" Yuffie gasped to herself, looking around. "I got us into this... If I hadn't of ran off like that then we wouldn't of ran into Ruby!"  
  
That's when Yuffie's eyes changed color. They turned from brown to green.  
  
'Yesss....' Yuffie thought. 'It's happening... This has to work! If dad can do it, then so can I!'  
  
Reno then felt the wind around him starting to slow down. Up above them, Rude and Elena were falling also, and they could feel the same thing.  
  
"What's going on?!" Elena shouted.  
  
Then everything went black.  
  
  
  
"Have you seen anyone in a black trench coat?" Tifa asked the inn keeper.  
  
"Yes... As far as I can recall..." he answered.  
  
Cloud nodded in victory.  
  
Tifa grinned. "Really?! You have! Did he have silver hair?" she asked. The man nodded. "And a long, lethal looking sword?" The man nodded.  
  
"Sephiroth... that's who he said he was." The inn keeper told them. He scratched his chin and looked up at the ceiling in thought. "'Reckon he said something about this nonsense god being and all. Said he was our new god. A lotta rubbish, I say. Prolly another one of them street hicks from the destroyed Midgar area." then the inn keeper, having given all the information he could, went back to filing through papers.  
  
"So... he has passed through here..." Cloud observed.  
  
Tifa nodded. "We have to go find him!" she said.  
  
"Okay." Cloud said. "We have to find the others first." then he started to leave the inn, but turned back to Tifa once he reached the door. "Teef, find a snowboard rental."  
  
"Huh?" Tifa asked, puzzled. Cloud grinned back at her and left. "Snowboards...?" she mumbled to herself.  
  
"Yeah, you might need those to pass the Great Glacier." the inn keeper added.  
  
"Hmm... Okay." Tifa said. She walked out of the inn and went off in search of snowboards.  
  
As she looked around at the few stores in the Christmas-style town, Tifa wondered why Cloud had never mentioned his trip to the Great Glacier. They had met in the cabin, and Tifa only remembered going there by sled. She stiffled a laugh. 'Perhaps a snowboard would be easier, and yet, faster!' she thought, smiling to herself.  
  
Then she found a store with a big sign "RENTALS" and lit up. She walked over to the rental shop and walked into the door as the bell jingled in the wake of the door. There she found Vincent, Reeve, and Cid standing and looking a few of the snowboards with pictures imprinted on the bottom of them.  
  
Cid was looking at one with a picture of Satan and Death arguing over a game of poker and snickered, taking a deep, long drag of his cig. "Heh, there's your board, Vince." he said with a smirk.  
  
Vincent didn't reply. He was more interested in looking at something else.  
  
Reeve went on about a board with a picture of Scarlett on it and complained. "She doesn't look anything LIKE that up close!" he exclaimed. "She's nothing but an ugly, bitchy slut! No offence if ya like her, though." he said, then shyly went off to about how pogs got popular again all of the sudden.  
  
Cid snickered, interrupting Reeve. Reeve looked at him questionably. "Never thought that you'd have a mouth." Cid said. "I guess it can't be held back if it's about Scarlett."  
  
Reeve laughed. "Yeah, guess not."  
  
"Hey, what are you three doing?" Tifa asked. Cid and Reeve turned to greet her while Vincent still observed the price tags on the different snow boards.  
  
"Just lookin' around." Reeve replied.  
  
"Yeah, besides, without a snowboard, how the fuck are we supposed to get down the Great Glacier? Ya know how fucking steep that is!" Cid said.  
  
Tifa nodded, laughing.  
  
"We'll all be best fitted if we stick to the simpler ones." Vincent said, not taking his eyes off the boards. Everyone turned to look at him.  
  
"Why?" Reeve asked.  
  
"No matter how good the design on the bottoms are, the simpler ones are made with stronger materials and can withstand more than the expensive, flashy ones." Vincent explained.  
  
"Hmm.. Good point." Tifa answered.  
  
Then Cloud came through the door along with Barret and Red. "Okay, everyone, pick a board and then we can start our little journey." Cloud said. It was apparent he still had the board from the last time he took to the slopes of the Great Glacier, and he was already dressed up in his snow attire to go. Tifa giggled. "Huh?" Cloud asked.  
  
"You look so funny with that on!" Tifa laughed.  
  
"I do not!" Cloud said, faking as if he was actually hurt by her words. "Besides, we all have to dress up like this, unless you want to freeze."  
  
"Go ahead and wear it, Spike." Cid said. "I'm keeping my dignity."  
  
"Shut up foo' and wear the damn jacket at least!" Barret said. Cid took notice that Barret was dressed up too and burst out laughing.  
  
"Ugh, I don't see what's the matter with playing it safe." Cloud said, scratching the back of his head.  
  
"I do!" Zack said, walking into the store behind Cloud. Cloud and Barret and Red turned to face him. Immediantly, as if almost on instinct, Zack burst out laughing.  
  
"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!! Cloud!!!" Zack gasped inbetween laughs. "At least loose the hat! Your spikes are going right through it!"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
Cloud looked up and saw what Zack had pointed out. "Eheh...I guess I can't get my reciept for this.." he laughed nervously and took the hat off, or should I say out, of his hair and threw it into a waste despencer.  
  
"Come on, guys." Zack said, gesturing to the Great Glacier and snapping on some goggled and standing up his own snowboard. "Let's get going. Meet ya at the glacier after you buy your equipment!" Before Zack left, he took one last look at Cloud and snickered, then ran out of the door as Cloud chased after him.  
  
  
  
"Okay guys." Cloud instructed. They had all gathered at the foot of the giant, steep slope. "We are now going to go down this hill. Try and follow my lead, but if we get lost, we won't be able to use our PHS phones due to the extremely cold weather. And besides, it'd be hard to pull a generaly good signal through a snow storm. But if somone gets lost, or seperated from the others, then just head for the cabin. We will all meet up there and then continue up the moutains to the Crater. Then we will climb down in through the whirlwind maze and---"  
  
"Yeah yeah yeah, we've done it before and we were fine!" Cid said.  
  
"Most correct." Red agreed. "Though I do not know how I could manage with a snowboard so I guess I'll just have to figure it out on my own."  
  
"Okay, so, as I've said sooo many times before--" Cloud started, but was interrupted.  
  
"Move out, foo's!!" Barret interjected and then dove down on the slopes below with his snowboard. Everyone else followed, even a griping Cloud, down the steep slopes...  
  
  
  
"Hmm.. That's odd." Cloud said to himself. He had landed in the heart of the forest. But he was alone. He looked around and frantically called out names, but there were no answers. Then everything around him turned into shadows, except for himself.  
  
"What.... What's happening?!!!" Cloud gasped.  
  
Then a figure appeard in front of him. Cloud glared and immediantly drew his Ultima Weapon.  
  
"Sephiroth..." Cloud said through gritted teeth. "Give me the Whie Materia... Now." he demanded.  
  
"Not a chance, puppet!" Sephiroth declared. "And besides, I don't have it."  
  
"Then who does?!" Cloud asked.  
  
"JENOVA, of course." Sephiroth said.  
  
"Where the hell is she?!" Cloud asked Sephiroth, drawing his sword higher. "Tell me where she is now so I can take the White Materia from her to revive Aeris!"  
  
"Don't talk about our mother like that." Sephiroth said, looking at Cloud in disgust.  
  
"SHE IS NOT MY MOTHER!!! I HAVE A MOM! SHE DIED THOUGH!!" Cloud yelled, about ready to strike at Sephiroth. He took notice to Cloud's anger and drew his masamune. Cloud came forward with his sword, but Sephiroth blocked it using his own. Cloud and Sephiroth came face to face then, and Cloud glared at him. "And you know how she died?" he asked Sephiroth through gritted teeth.  
  
"Oh, do tell me. Explain your fantasies of your dream mother, for I know how much you wish to be just a regular human. You have simply made her up with visions of your mind and your own simularity--" Sephiroth began.  
  
"BECAUSE YOU BURNED HER TO DEATH!! THAT'S WHY!!!!" Cloud screamed, bringing his sword at full force and broke the trance. Sephiroth fell to the ground, outraged.  
  
"How could you beat me?!" Sephiroth exclaimed. "You're nothing but a mere puppet!!"  
  
"I AM NOT A GOD DAMN PUPPET!!" Cloud yelled at Sephiroth.  
  
"Yes you are."  
  
Then everything went back to normal.  
  
Cloud slowly got back up and looked around. Where was everyone???  
  
"Cloud! Cloud!"  
  
A voice! Tifa's! Cloud immediantly turned to the direction her voice came from.  
  
"Cloud!" Tifa exclaimed as she came into view and threw herself into his arms. "I heard screaming! Are you okay??" she asked him, worried.  
  
"Yeah, don't worry." Cloud answered.  
  
There was a long silence.  
  
"It was Sephiroth, wasn't it?" Tifa asked, breaking it.  
  
Cloud nodded. "Yeah..." he said.  
  
Tifa gasped. "What about the others?! What if he's gotten to them, too?!" she asked.  
  
"Shit.." Cloud cursed. Then he ran into the direction his eyes were fixed on, and Tifa followed him relentlessly.  
  
"Cloud! Wait up!" Tifa called.  
  
"No time!" Cloud yelled over his shoulder. "Zack's in grave danger! And he's our only hope of reviving Aeris!!!"  
  
Tifa then sped up with a new found vigor. She really wanted to see Aeris again, and did not want to see the person that saved her perish in front of her very eyes.  
  
They ran out of the woods to see a scene they rather had not. Zack was on his knees, clutching his ears and screaming, and Sephiroth was standing over him with his sword rasied.  
  
"If the puppet can't fulfil my mission, then my shadow will have to do!" Sephiroth declared.  
  
Cloud stepped forward and drew his sword. Sephiroth took no notice in Cloud whatsoever. But then he had a reason to...  
  
"HELL FIRE!!" Cloud shouted and sent Ifrit at Sephiroth. A huge, flaming boulder hit Seprhitoh and he fell, breaking his link with Zack.  
  
Zack unclenched his ears and lifted his head. He looked around, then at Cloud and nodded. "Thanks, bud!" Zack approved. "I owe ya one!"  
  
Cloud smiled back and nodded.  
  
But the threat was not over. Sephiroth slid up with the support of his masamune, and glared back at Cloud, Zack, and Tifa.  
  
"You... will pay.. dearly.. for this..." Sephiroth grunted and then he phased out of the line of fire.  
  
"Zack." Cloud said, turning to him. Zack looked at Cloud questionably. "Are you alirght? What did Sephiroth tell you? And most importantly, what was he trying to make you do?" he asked.  
  
Zack scratched the back of his head. "He was instructing me to... Like, destroy the 'other one'..." Zack paused. "I think he was indicating you."  
  
Cloud sighed. "I knew it. Of course he'd be out, after me." Cloud said.  
  
Tifa looked over to Cloud, then at Zack, then at Cloud again. "Cloud... let's just get out of here and fine the others... please?" she said, breaking the silence.  
  
Cloud nodded. Then he started off to the north direction. Tifa and Zack followed him, silently.  
  
  
  
They had been walking for hours in the gigantic snow storm. But still, no sign of the others. After she had had enough, Tifa spoke up after Cloud.  
  
"Cloud... are we ever going to find the others?" she asked. Cloud didn't answer. "What if Sephiroth got to them... before we could?"  
  
Cloud still didn't answer. Tifa was about to ask him to answer, to at least say yes and make her happy, but Zack put a hand on her shoulder. Tifa looked back at Zack, puzzled.  
  
"Don't." Zack said. "He's had a rough day as it is."  
  
Tifa nodded. "Yeah, I guess it's better that we not think about it. They're probably waiting for us back at the cabin." she agreed.  
  
Cloud smiled at Tifa's idea. Hell, she could be right. At least that cheered him up a little bit.  
  
"I'm... about...to...collapse..." Tifa groaned a few minutes later.  
  
"Tifa, we're close. I can tell." Cloud reassured her. "Just hold on a little longer."  
  
Tifa nodded, trying to ignore the fact that the bangs of her hair were starting to grow frost. Her teeth were chattering, and the coat she was wearing wasn't nearly enough to keep out the cold that kept trying to get in.  
  
Then her ankle weakened as she took her next step and she fell down to the ground. Cloud knelt down before her and picked her up in his arms and they continued their tred, this time Zack in the lead. He was the only one who seemed that the cold didn't bother.  
  
They kept tredding for another half hour. Tifa had fallen asleep in Cloud's arms, and Zack was just about showing his first sign of weakening. But then they reached the top of a hill and they looked down. Below was a small cabin, with a smoking chimney at the top. Cloud and Zack took notice in the several snowboards placed at the outside of the cabin.  
  
"Well, Teef, you were right." Cloud said, and they tredded downhill to the cabin.  
  
As Zack knocked on the door, Mr. Holzoff came into view. He looked at them and nodded. "Why sure, come in, come in! It's been a while since I've had company. You're friends are waiting!" Zack nodded, and he walked inside, followed by Cloud and Tifa.  
  
Cloud turned to Mr. Holzoff as he closed the door behind him. He smiled at him. "Thanks for you hospitality. If it weren't for you..."  
  
"I know, I know." Mr. Holzoff said, shaking the matter away with his hand. "Now go to the parlor by the fire place! That girl you're holding will catch a cold if you don't!"  
  
Cloud smiled and nodded. He carried Tifa over to the fire place and set her down. Everyone else was there, excluding Yuffie and the Turks, sitting on couches and arm chairs. Mr. Holzoff sat himself in his own chair, and looked at all them with a grin. "So, how goes your travels?" he asked. "Would you mind telling me?"  
  
"Not at all." Cloud answered. "But it's quite a long story."  
  
"I'm all ears." Mr. Holzoff replied.  
  
"Well, since we left your place a couple months ago..." Cloud began, and so he began to tell Mr. Holzoff about his and his friend's travels ever since...  
  
  
  
The next day, they had all woken up bright and early, and had bid Mr. Holzoff 'goodbye' and they started to head up the Gaea Cliffs. It had been a rough climb, but when they reached the top side of the crater, they all looked down at the whilrwind maze below.  
  
"Well... This is where it starts." Cloud said. "All we have to do is find Sephiroth." he looked over at Cid. "Still got your PHS?" he asked.  
  
Cid nodded. "I wouldn't fucking leave it behind, spike!" he said. "Why?" he asked.  
  
"Because, we need to contact your crew as soon as we get the materia so we can get out of here." Cloud explained.  
  
Cid twitched irritated. "If we could of flied over here how come we fucking went this far on FOOT?!" he outraged.  
  
"No, no no, we couldn't fly over here because there's no place to land. And no place for the rope ladder. But... When we take the materia, then Sephiroth's seal will be broken and we can fly out of here." Cloud tried to explain.  
  
"Damnit, Spike, you're fucking confusing me, but oh well." Cid said, scratching the back of his head.  
  
"Come on. We need to go." Red said. They nodded and then they started to do a run down the edge of the cliff and into the crater.  
  
When they got to the bottom, Cloud noticed something immediantly. The whole place was different than from before. The whirlwind maze had complely stopped once they had stepped down to level with it. 'Almost as if it doesn't want to be around us...' Cloud thought.  
  
"Damn..." Barret cursed. "I don't think somone wants us here..." he said. He loaded his gun-arm with some fresh bullets and prepared for battle.  
  
Then the ground under them began to glow and shake.  
  
"What's going on?!" Tifa exclaimed.  
  
"I don't know...!" Cloud said, trying to keep his footing.  
  
Then the ground completely gave away and they all fell towards the bottom of the crater...  
  
  
  
PUPPET! RISE!  
  
Cloud's eyes snapped open. "Where am I...?" he groaned.  
  
He looked around. The others were there too, and they were just awakening from their fall.  
  
Then Sephiroth appeared in front of all of them. They all tensed up, ready to fight. But Sephiroth didn't move a muscle.  
  
"Puppets..." Sephiroth began, informing Cloud and Zack. "It is now time! Rise and obey my every command, for I shall become your GOD!" he said, slowly rising his arms him into the air in power.  
  
Cloud and Zack looked at Sephiroth with a disgusted look. But then, slowly, they both started getting up at the same time.  
  
"Cloud!" Reeve exclaimed.  
  
"I can't... move..." Cloud strained, trying to get away from Sephiroth's grasp. "Zack!" he called. "Keep resisting! Don't let Sephiroth get to you!"  
  
"He's too strong.." Zack strained back, and then started walking over to Sephiroth, involuntarily, as if he were a zombie.  
  
"That's it, my shadow..." Sephiroth said, smirking. "Come to me... Fill out my plan for world domination..." he held out a hand to Zack, and Zack mimiced.  
  
"ZACK SNAP OUT OF IT!!" Cloud yelled. "DON'T TAKE HIS HAND!!!!"  
  
Zack blinked, and then he shook his head. He looked at Sephiroth, horror in his eyes, and began to step back, away from him.  
  
"Damn you, puppet..." Sephiroth snarled at Cloud. "I shall kill you first. You are of no use to me, now..." he then full-forced Cloud forward, and Cloud was pulled to his knees by Sephiroth's force, and Sephiroth walked up to Cloud slowly, and began raising his large masamune up and over his back. The sword began to grow to the length of four feet, and then it stopped.  
  
Tifa began to run forward, but Barret caught her by the shoulder. "Cloud!" Tifa cried.  
  
"There's nothing you can do about it..." Barret said, trying to comfort her.  
  
Then something flashed behind Sephiroth. Sephiroth stopped and looked forward, his eyes wide. He dropped his sword onto the floor next to Cloud, and by his distraction, Cloud was able to break free, and he scrambled back to the others. Tifa cried and hugged Cloud like there was no tomarrow. Cloud kept his gaze fixed on Sephiroth the whole time.  
  
Sephiroth checked his pockets, everywhere, but he couldn't seem to find what he was looking for. "DAMNIT!" he cursed. He looked up at the ceiling of the cavern they were in, slowly. He picked up his sword and it went its full length of six feet long, and he then began to draw it back to four feet long, threatenly. "Whoever just STOLE that white materia from is going to DIE right NOW!" he yelled, and then he pulled out a yellow manipulate materia out of his pocket.  
  
Then an electricity bolt caugh Sephiroth. Sephiroth winced, but then he looked back up. He then pulled back his sword, and then he thrust it out again, casting fire on the party that had just attacked him. Four figured fell to the ground before him. Three in navy blue suits and one in a green tank top and kacki shorts.  
  
Sephiroth laughed evily. "Why if it isn't ShinRa's pawns..." he paused, looking at Yuffie, "...and one of my war rival's daughter?" chuckled. "Hey, Yuffie, how's your brother? Oh whoops, I almost forgot, he's dead." he snickered evily.  
  
Yuffie glared back at Sephritoh. "You bastard..." she snarled.  
  
Reno, Rude, and Elena slowly stood up, glaring back at Sephiroth.  
  
Elena was glaring back at Sephiroth with murder in her eyes. "You killed Tseng..." she said menacingly. "Didn't you? It wasn't Cloud, was it?"  
  
Sephiroth nodded. "Yes, I killed your pathetic boss! It was funny, really, he had lasted that long but all in all, like all of you other saps futures, he was killed by ME, your new GOD!" and then he laughed evily, bringing up his sword to Elena. Elena stepped back immediantly.  
  
Cloud then stood up, making Tifa scared, and he started to walk over to Sephiroth with a fixed gaze at him. No emotion whatsoever in his eyes. Only one glint of murder was all that showed. Sehiroth turned his sword to Cloud, and prepared to strike.  
  
"I guess this is our last battle, puppet." Sephiroth said. "It ends here. I might as well bring you out of your misery and put you back in Hojo's scrap pile where you belong."  
  
"Hojo is your dad." Cloud said simply.  
  
"You're insane." Sephiroth snarled back.  
  
"It's true." Cloud replied.  
  
"Then.. according to your records, who is my mother?" Sephiroth asked with a quirked eyebrow.  
  
"Lucrecia." Cloud stated.  
  
"LIES!!!" Sephiroth yelled, bringing up his sword at Cloud. Cloud dived to the side. He quickly got up on his feet and dived at Sephiroth himself, but Sephiroth grabbed Cloud's bulky sword and flung him across the tavern they were in. Cloud got up just as Sephiroth was going at him again, and he responded by rolling to the left. When Sephiroth was down, Cloud took the opportunity to slice him in the shoulder. Sephiroth got back up, raged, and slice at him again. Then they began a sword fight, clashing each others swords but never getting their exact target.  
  
All the while Red was observing the area. He looked up at Cid. "I think we should call your Highwind here." he suggested.  
  
Cid looked at him. "Fuck, where are they gunna go? You can't even see no damn sky." he said.  
  
Red looked up at the ceiling. "That's the top of the crater." he explained. "It's a pretty thin layer, and the Highwind will be able to go through it no problem. Besides, you have those missles."  
  
Cid nodded, taking in a drag of his cig. "Good point. I hope you're fucking right about this, though, because if you aren't, then yer paying for the repairs." he said.  
  
Red chuckled. "Trust me, I know."  
  
Cid then got out his PHS, while watching the fight between Sephiroth and Cloud.  
  
Zack kept the urge from diving in there and giving Sephiroth a piece of his mind. Because, if he did, he'd cause some major trouble. But it didn't look like Cloud would be able to last that much longer...  
  
Just then a barrage of explosions were heard from up above. Sephiroth and Cloud stopped and looked up at the ceiling. It was starting to cave in!!  
  
But in the mist of all the smoke and rock, the Highwin slowly merged downward and into the crater. Cid cursed about a dent in it but then a rope decended from the deck. One by one, they all climbed up, but Sephiroth and Cloud had continued their battle. Zack got onto the airship, taking a glance at Cloud.  
  
"CLOUD!!" he yelled back at him. "GET UP HERE!!!"  
  
Cloud glared back at Sephiroth. They stopped.  
  
"Till we meet again." he said coldly. Sephiroth snickered, and then, without warning, he took a step forward...  
  
It had happened so quickly that nobody was sure what had happened until it was done. Tifa watched in horror, and Zack had to be restrained by Barret and Reeve from jumping back off the deck.  
  
"CLOUD!!!!!" Tifa screamed, trying to reach down to him. But she knew she couldn't.  
  
"Tifa..." Red began. Tifa looked back at him. "Be strong." Red said. Tifa smiled back at him with tears in her eyes. "Cloud escaped his blow once... he can do it again." he reassured her.  
  
Tifa nodded, and looked back at the scen with a new attitude. She glared down at Sephiroth and she got out her cure materia. She silently casted Regen on Cloud and he started glowing a dull color of red.  
  
Sephiroth slipped his sword out of Cloud's gut, and Cloud fell to his knees, clutching his stomache with a pained look.  
  
"Take that, puppet." Sephiroth said.  
  
"You... can't... kill... me..." Cloud groaned, getting up with the support of his Ultima Weapon. Sephiroth gasped.  
  
"Not again!!" he cursed. "HOW CAN YOU WITHSTAND MY BLOWS?!"  
  
"I don't know." Cloud said, and he jumped onto the rope just as the Highwind started to take off. Cloud made his way up to the deck, and was quickly rushed to the infirmary to get his sword wound healed...  
  
  
  
Help... The planet... It needs me...  
  
Aeris!  
  
Please go to the Ancient City... I know you got the materia...  
  
Don't worry, we're on our way, just stay where you are!  
  
Zack... I want to see you again...  
  
....Aeris....  
  
~~~~  
  
A lil short compared to what I wanted it to be...Chapter 7 will be out shortly! Please read and review! ~Chuu  
  
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	7. Expect The Unexpected

Chapter Seven  
  
  
  
A helicoptor flew across the sky. They were going from the Kalm hospital towards the neo-ShinRa headquarters. Outside it was hailing and very stormy. Lightning flashed over the moutains and thunder could be heard from far off.  
  
Rufus flicked back his hair. "I inquire why I got such a faulty flight back home." he demanded the pilot.  
  
"Sir, there were no planes available so we had to use this, sir." the pilot answered, swerving the plane just out of reach of a near hit lightning bolt.  
  
"Watch where you're going, you fool!" Rufus complained.  
  
"Sir! Sorry, sir!" the pilot reacted. Rufus just groaned and held his forehead in his hand, leaning on his knee. This was by far his worst week in his life.  
  
'At least my old man's dead...' Rufus thought to himself. 'Damn, I hated that man!'  
  
Then his cell phone started ringing. Rufus growled at it as if it were living, but nonetheless, he picked it up anyway. "Hello?" he asked, annoyed.  
  
"Sir, what are our plans now?" It was Heideggar.  
  
'Damn fatass slob...' Rufus thought. He sighed heavily. He flicked his hair back once more and answered. "Your mission is to find the Turks at all costs. Kill them." he stated.  
  
"But..But sir, aren't they with us?" Heideggar began.  
  
"No." Rufus cut off. "Don't question my orders. Kill them." he repeated.  
  
"Yes, sir." Heideggar answered, and signed off.  
  
"Insolent fool..." Rufus muttered.  
  
"Did ya say something, boss?" the pilot asked.  
  
"Go back to driving." Rufus shot back coldly.  
  
Without a reply the pilot reaverted his gaze to the huge city growing in front of them.  
  
Just then, a lightning bolt flashed. Rufus only had enough time to look up before he heard the propeller had be electricuted, metal being a great conductor of electricity. Especially the mako energy that coursed throughout the coptor.  
  
"What's going on?!" Rufus exclaimed.  
  
The helicoptor was spinning out of control, away from the city and it seemed that the lightning bolt was literally pulling them in a certain direction.  
  
"Mayday! Mayday! We're going down!!!!" the pilot screamed into his CB radio. But it had deactivated and there was no response.  
  
"Damnit! Can't you failures do ANYTHING right?!" Rufus yelled. He ran up to the pilot's seat and yanked the pilot out of the way. Quickly, he took the steering wheel and yanked it to the right. But it didn't seem to work...  
  
And they were heading right for the ocean.  
  
"NOOOO!!!!!!!!!" Rufus let out one final cry as the lightning bolt released them and they went hurling off to the dark abyss below...  
  
  
  
They entered the ancient city. It was as lifeless as a ghost town.  
  
Cloud stepped two steps in front of everyone else. He turned around to face everyone, a content look in his eyes. He also had a gleam of victory in his eyes.  
  
"We are almost there. We have to ressuruct Aeris now." he stated. He looked to Yuffie. "Do you still have the white materia?"  
  
Yuffie nodded. "Of course!" she answered.  
  
Zack held out his hand. Yuffie looked at him for a moment, puzzeled.  
  
"Give it to me, please." Zack asked.  
  
Yuffie nodded slowly, and handed the materia to Zack.  
  
Zack nodded to her, and turned to Cloud. Cloud nodded to Zack. Zack returned the nod, and took the position as leader for the time being. Cloud followed close behind. Deciding that this is where they were going, the others followed them too.  
  
Zack leaded them to the four corners of the ancient city. He looked around, confused. "Where did you bury her body?" he asked Cloud without even making the slightest look towards him.  
  
"Up ahead." Cloud answered simply. Zack nodded and walked ahead. They continued walking towards the lake where Aeris' body lied, waiting for them.  
  
Tifa couldn't bare it. What if this wouldn't work? What would happen to Cloud and the others? What would happen to her? Would they just loose hope all together? What would happen to the poor, heartbroken? But....  
  
'What would happen if it works?' she asked herself. Then she felt a pain into her emotions. 'What woudl she do to Cloud? Even though Zack loves her... What if...'  
  
Her thoughts were cut off. She all the sudden came over her greif. 'Aeris is reasoning.' she thought with relief. 'She'll go to Zack... I just know it.'  
  
But there was still a doubt in her heart.  
  
As they neared the lake, the tension began to grew. They made their first steps onto the forest path. Just a little ways further, and they would be there...  
  
Zack ran to the edge of the lake once they had left the path. He looked down, kneeled against the bank and looking around frantically for Aeris' body.  
  
Zack...  
  
Zack's head snapped to the sound of her voice. She was there. Lying, motionless in the cold, light blue lake, at the mere bottom. He ribbon had fallen out and her hair was down. But still, she had her same smile on her face. The same smile she had when he had first met her.  
  
Everyone else walked up behind Zack to see for herself. Nothing had changed with her. She was still the same. Yet, frozen in time.  
  
"Aeris...." Zack muttered.  
  
"What do we do from here?" Red asked Zack.  
  
Zack stood up and turned to them. He held up the white materia triumphantly, his usual, funny grin returning to his lips. "All we gotta do is use the spell on her. But..." he began, looking down. "We gotta get her out of there first."  
  
"No problem." Tifa said. Everyone looked over to her, puzzled.  
  
Tifa concentrated and thought about anything and everything that could get her angry. It took her a while to power up, and with deep concentration. Soon, yellow and amber lights swarmed up all around her and when she felt her limit reach it's maximum, she picked up the whistle Pricilla had given her.  
  
"DOLPHIN SUMMON!" she yelled. Then, out of nowhere, Pricilla's dolphin had appeared in the air above the lake. It splashed down hapilly into the water below and picked Aeris up with its beak by her hand. It swam back up, towards the surface and left her on the shore. As soon as its duty was done, it disappeared in a ball of smoke.  
  
Zack ran to Aeris as quickly as he could. He kneeled down to her and held out the materia. His eyes shown a mixture of victory and concentration. He closed his eyes and concentrated more deeply. The materia's glow had started to glimmer. The inside reflected Aeris' last breaths. It mirrored the image of Sephiroth, Aeris falling to the ground. And even though he didn't have his eyes opened, Zack saw it all. It pained him, but he felt better soon, knowing everything would be all right.  
  
His eyes snapped opened.  
  
"Holy Yell!" he yelled, releasing the materia's energy at Aeris. Then a piece of the lifestream flung out of the holy materia and encircled Aeris' body. It went inside her body through her mouth as she involitarilly opened it, and the glow of the lifestream could be shown through her veins and her skin. Then the glow disappeared. Aeris' eyes snapped opened immediantly and she let out a faint gasp.  
  
The others stiffened. The spell still hadn't proven itself. She was alive for the moment. What would happen if she just died again right there?  
  
Aeris started struggling. The bit of lifestream that had flowed into her body was trying to escape. She sat up and clutched her chest, coughing.  
  
"Aeris!" Zack exclaimed.  
  
"The lifestream...!!" Aeris gasped.  
  
"Aeris, what's going on?!" Tifa demanded.  
  
"Se...phir...oth...." Aeris gasped. Then she closed her eyes gently and waited for the lifestream to settle. It did, eventually, and she steadied herself. Zack helped her stand up slowly. She hadn't been on her feet for months.  
  
"What the fuck was that all about??" Cid asked.  
  
"Sephiroth... he's near..." Aeris explained. "He was trying to defect the lifestream when you did the spell... If he had been successful..."  
  
"We would of tried again..." Vincent said after a long pause.  
  
"It can only work on the same ancient once. If I die I can not be brought back again." Aeris stated.  
  
Everyone went silent.  
  
After a long while, they started to head back to the Highwind in silence. Once in a while Zack and Aeris would glance at each other. But that was the only interaction that was made.  
  
If only they had noticed the helicoptor that were hovering up above a few hundred yards away...  
  
  
  
"I have found appearance of the Turks." A guard said, looking out the window with his bonoculars.  
  
"Where?" Heideggar snapped, looking at the guard feircly. Scarlett lit up from her seat in the back.  
  
"They're close? Oh, good! Good!" she squealed. "Punishment time!"  
  
"Not yet..." Heideggar said. "We must first seperate them from AVALANCHE. Their number is too great to just go all out and attack."  
  
Scarlet nodded silently.  
  
"We'll kill the girl, too." Heideggar stated.  
  
Scarlet perked up. "Good! She bitched at me when she was in the headquarters, I want to pay her back!" Scarlet laughed with glee. "Kya ha ha ha ha! No one messes with Scarlet and gets away with it!"  
  
"They will feel the wrath of ShinRa..." the guard said.  
  
"Speaking of which..." Heideggar began. He picked up his celluar phone and dialed up Rufus. But what he heard on the other line was definately not Rufus...  
  
"I'm sorry. The number you are dialing has either been disconnected, or no longer exists. Please check your number and dial again."  
  
Heideggar paused in disbelief. "Musta dialed the wrong number..." he began. He redialed the number to Rufus' phone.  
  
"I'm sorry. The number you are dialing has either been disconnected, or no longer exists. Please check your number and dial again."  
  
".....The hell?" Heideggar began.  
  
"Give me that, you nitwit!" Scarlet insulted Heideggar and yanked the phone out of his hands. Heideggar glared at Scarlet, but let her have her way all the same.  
  
"I'm sorry. The number you are dialing has either been disconnected, or no longer exists. Please check your number and dial again."  
  
"URRRGH!! What's going on here?!" Scarlet exclaimed.  
  
Heideggar shrugged. "Maybe the headquarters knows where he is." he dialed up the number to the main office and Mayor Domino answered.  
  
"Hello?" he asked.  
  
"Yeah, Domino?" Heideggar asked. "Has Rufus returned yet?"  
  
There was a pause on the other line.  
  
"...Well?" Scarlet intersected.  
  
"....I thought he was with you..." Domino explained.  
  
"HE HASN'T RETURNED YET?!" Heideggar exclaimed.  
  
"Well... there is a chance that he could of been killed..." Domino chanced saying. "The lightning out here is very dangerous..."  
  
Heideggar didn't say a word. He jabbed the off button on his cell phone and slammed it down angrily. "Bunch of shit..." he cursed.  
  
"What's wrong?" Scarlet asked.  
  
"Damn Domino thinks the prez is dead." Heideggar said. "What an airhead. Rufus wouldn't die that easily."  
  
"You said it!" Scarlet agreed.  
  
"Now..." Heideggar began, his eyes turning cold. "...to wait for the prey..." he finished, looking back down at the group as they made their way towards the Highwind...  
  
  
  
Aeris leaned forward over the railing of the Highwind and looked down at the ocean as they flew above it. It was the first time she had ever been on an airship that was actually flying. A moment later, Zack opened the door behind her and stepped out onto the deck.  
  
Aeris turned around to greet him, a smile on her face. "Thanks." she said.  
  
"No need." Zack replied, joining her by the railing. "The thanks enough is that you're alive."  
  
Aeris looked back down at the water. "...Zack?" she asked after a long pause.  
  
"Yeah?" Zack questioned, turning to Aeris.  
  
She was looking at him with a concerned look in her eyes.  
  
"Uh oh, it's the look." Zack muttered in a joking tone.  
  
"How are you alive?" she asked.  
  
Zack didn't reply. He didn't know what she was talking about.  
  
"Zack.." Aeris began. "You were dead..."  
  
"I was never dead..." Zack stated uneasily.  
  
"Yes you were!" Aeris shot back. "You never sent me any more letters! After your trip to Nibelheim they just... stopped..."  
  
Zack looked at her in shock. 'This is true... I don't remember anything after that... except...'  
  
"Zack!! Watch out!!" Cloud yelled.  
  
Zack drew his sword and turned around to the guards. He swiped at them, but he was too weak to swing at them again. The guards brought up their guns...  
  
A short 'phut' later and all he saw was blackness...  
  
"Am I a ghost...then...?" Zack asked Aeris.  
  
Aeris didn't avert her gaze from his eyes. "I don't know..." she said.  
  
"Will I ever find out how I lived?" Zack muttered to himself, leaning and looking below the railing.  
  
"Yes. You will." Aeris stated. And they left the conversation at that.  
  
  
  
Cloud looked out towards the front of the Highwind and at the sky as it whipped passed the window. He wasn't sure about it, but he could of swore that Tifa kept glancing at him uneasily.  
  
Tifa took another chance glance at him. 'I wonder if because Zack's around... Aeris will leave Cloud alone?' she wondered. 'Then again...' she sighed sadly.  
  
She glanced at him again. This time he was watching her. She stepped back, startled, and he walked over to her, a concerned look on his face.  
  
"What's wrong with you?" he questioned.  
  
Tifa sighed again, and looked down at the ground. She didn't answer.  
  
"Answer me, Teef." Cloud said.  
  
"No..." she protested.  
  
"Come on..." Cloud said, and took a step closer to her. "Please?"  
  
Tifa looked up into his eyes silently, but still she didn't say a word. For some time they just stared at each other, and then Tifa suddenly broke the moment and turned away from him.  
  
She still didn't say anything for a while, and Cloud was almost certain she would not respond. Just when he was about to ask again, Tifa spoke.  
  
"Aeris..." she said without turning around.  
  
"What about Aeris..?" Cloud asked.  
  
"Aeris... I'm...afraid that she'll..." she began, but she didn't finish.  
  
Cloud put a hand on her shoulder. "What? What will she do?" he asked her, concerned.  
  
Tifa turned to him with a fearful look on her face. "I'm scared that she'll take you away from me..." she said, and looked down at the ground again. "...I don't....want to loose you again...Cloud..."  
  
"Tifa..." Cloud began. He pulled her closer to him. She looked back up at him. He noticed the tears in her eyes and brushed her hair back behind her ear. "I love you. Aeris can't take away that..." his head lowered to hers. "And besides, she wouldn't leave Zack for me. She's known him way longer..."  
  
"Are you sure?" Tifa asked.  
  
Cloud nodded. "We may have not have known each other really since childhood...but..." he began, but Tifa cut him off when she put her finger to his lips to hush him.  
  
"Sshh..." she said. "Don't remind yourself of those days, okay?" she asked.  
  
He nodded back. "Of course..."  
  
His eyelids lowered and his head lowered to her even more. She wrapped her arms around his neck and they kissed passionately.  
  
A little ways away, Barret and Cid were watching the scene from the pilot's post.  
  
"Heh heh. Been waiting for them to admit one of these days." Cid commented.  
  
"Yeah... Sorta makes us more like a team, don't it?" Barret replied.  
  
"Uhuh." Cid remarked. "Especially since those two haven't been speaking to each other lately. Damnit, I thought they were falling apart!"  
  
"Gack!!!" Reeve exclaimed from the radar screen.  
  
"Huh? What the fuck's going on?!" Cid demanded.  
  
"I don't know if this is a quite so serious matter compared to Sephiroth, but.." Reeve began. Cid and Barret strided over and looked over his shoulder.  
  
"Who is dat?" Barret asked.  
  
"Scarlet and Heideggar." Reeve stated.  
  
"Damn!" Cid cursed. "Let's loose em."  
  
"They're not after us. I don't know what they're doing, but they're no threat to us." Reeve said.  
  
"Fine... just..." Cid struggled for orders to give. "Keep a sharp eye on em!"  
  
"Gotcha." Reeve replied.  
  
Then the whole airship shuddered.  
  
"What the hell?!" Barret exclaimed.  
  
Tifa stumbled to her knees not too far away, and looked around.  
  
"What was that?" Tifa asked.  
  
"Trouble..." Cloud said, holding out his hand to help her up. Tifa took it and lifted herself up with his help.  
  
They walked over to Cid, Barret, and Reeve. "What was that?" Tifa repeated.  
  
"It came out of nowhere!" Reeve exclaimed.  
  
"What the fuck WAS that already?!" Cid exclaimed.  
  
"The energy censors read it as Sephiroth!" Reeve shot back.  
  
"Shit!" Cid cursed. He turned to the pilot. "Land at once!" he barked.  
  
"Aye aye, Captain Cid!" the man saluted and went to land the ship.  
  
Cid picked up the intercom speaker and shouted in it, "EVERYONE REPORT TO THE DECK! WE'RE LANDING! IT'S SEPHIROTH vs. US! MOVE MOVE MOVE!!!" he slammed it down, grabbed his spear, and ran to the deck.  
  
Cloud, Tifa, and Barret soon followed.  
  
Reeve glanced once more at the radar screeen and gasped. "Jenova..." he began. Quickly, he grabbed his gun and followed after them.  
  
  
  
They had landed near the south continent near Bone village as soon as they could. Cloud had leaded the others out and they had all took their fighting positions, ready to stand their guard and strike when Sephiroth had arrived.  
  
"Um, you guys?" Reeve ventured after he had jumped from the deck and onto the ground.  
  
"What?" Cloud asked.  
  
"Right as we were leaving...." Reeve looked clearly scared at this point.  
  
"Spit it out." Reno demanded.  
  
"It showed Jenova entering the radar system as well." Reeve finished.  
  
"JENOVA?!" the others exclaimed.  
  
"Isn't Jenova dead?" Vincent questioned.  
  
"How the heck should I know??" Reeve replied, clueless.  
  
"Damn!" Cloud cursed.  
  
Just then, two figured materialized across the feild from them. One was tall, with a long sword and long, silver hair. The other, a good two heads smaller then the man, was a magenta- purplish color with long tentacles for fingers in a silk, black dress and boots. On the back of her dress sprouted two metalish wings that looked light enough to make her able to fly.  
  
"Sephiroth..." Aeris stated.  
  
"Is that...sorceress dressed girl... Jenova?" Red questioned.  
  
"It has to be." Cloud stated.  
  
That was when the two figures disappeared without no trace at all.  
  
"....What was that all about?" Elena question in particularly no one at all.  
  
"I don't wanna have to find out..." Yuffie squeaked.  
  
"WATCH OUT!" Vincent warned.  
  
Just then Sephiroth appeared over Aeris.  
  
He cackled evily. "Great! I get to kill you again!" he said triumphantly, raising his sword.  
  
Aeris let out an ear-peircing shreik, but before Sephiroth could strike, Zack pushed her out of the way and blocked with his own huge, bulky sword.  
  
"Damnit!" Sephiroth cursed, and swung at Zack again.  
  
Zack blocked and returned with his own blow. Sephiroth danced out of the way nimbly and sliced again. Cloud joined in the fray and sliced at Sephiroth from behind while Zack sliced from the front. Unable to block both at once, Sephiroth was hit by Cloud's blow and he quickly disappeared again.  
  
He reappeared behind Aeris. This time, however, she was ready and swiped at him with her rod. He sliced at the rod and it broke in half. Aeris gasped and back up.  
  
Zack quickly came to her air and repeatedly swiped at Sephiroth as he did the same right back at him.  
  
Sephiroth then quickly swiped at Zack too fast for him to handle, and Zack went flying for ten feet and landed on the ground with a harsh thud. Aeris ran to his side a kneeld down to him, casting curing spells on him.  
  
Sephiroth turned to face Cloud. "Care to give it a whirl?" he asked, his cold eyes scraping into Cloud's nerve. Cloud dashed out at him and sliced, and the two engaged in a sword fight as well.  
  
"Fire Three!" Tifa yelled as she casted he supreme fire spell on Sephiroth. Sephiroth jerked and Cloud took the opportunity to swing at him. Sephiroth backed away, looking at them with pure hatred.  
  
"Mother, take care of these filth!" he demanded, turning over to Jenova.  
  
Jenova nodded without saying a word, and raised her tentacled claws, making a long, deadly looking staff up into the air. She then started to chant in a language forgein to all of them.  
  
But that didn't mean it wouldn't effect them.  
  
"Jenova isn't your mother!" Vincent cut in.  
  
Jenova stopped in mid chant, and looked at him as if he were a bug stuck to her shoe. "WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?" she questioned, speaking for the very first time.  
  
"I'm saying that you're not Sephiroth's mother!" Vincent replied, slightly repeating his former words.  
  
"HOW SO?" Jenova asked, lowering her staff.  
  
"Don't you know?" Cloud asked.  
  
Vincent stepped forward in front of the others to confront Sephiroth and Jenova. "Lucrecia is his real mother. And Hojo is his father." he replied coldly.  
  
"That's not true..." Sephiroth stated.  
  
"Hojo did an expiriment with JENOVA cells, but all in all, LUCRECIA was the one that bore you! And Hojo was your father!" Vincent shot back, a disgusted look forming on his face, "So much as I don't want to admit it, but it's true!"  
  
Sephiroth stood there for a minute, trying to figure out what was right and what was wrong. After a few moments of silence, he turned to Jenova, his cloak whirling behind him. "Is this true?" he questioned, his voice dripping with anger.  
  
"NO IT ISN'T!" Jenova snapped. "I CAN PROVE IT. THEY USED MY CELLS IN THE EXPIRIMENT."  
  
"Aren't you listening, foo'?!" Barret retorted, bringing up his gunarm menacingly. "Lucrecia BORE Sephiroth so that means she's his mum!"  
  
Jenova swiped her free hand in the air in an annoyed gesture. "NOT TRUE--" she began, but Sephiroth cut her off and stepped in front of her to confront the group once more.  
  
"Show me proof, mortal!" he demanded.  
  
"Sephiroth..." Aeris spoke up. "We are all mortal. We're just of different races..."  
  
"Quiet, woman!" Sephiroth snapped.  
  
Aeris looked down at the ground silently.  
  
"If you come with us to Shinra..." Vincent began, "We can show you the files... Or you can visit your real mother."  
  
"How?" Sephiroth ordered.  
  
"I'll show you." Vincent replied. "Her spirit rests in a cave."  
  
"She's...dead?" Sephiroth asked, his face falling in humor slightly.  
  
"Your Jenova here killed your real mother with her own cells." Vincent stated.  
  
"NOT MY FAULT." Jenova shot back, stepping up. "IT WAS TOO MUCH FOR HER."  
  
"SHUT UP!" Vincent yelled.  
  
Everyone stared at him. He had never yelled in such an angry manner before.  
  
"Sephiroth... please listen?" Aeris ventured. Sephiroth turned to face her again. "Just follow us... Please?"  
  
Sephiroth stood and looked at them, his face concerned with thought. He stood and thought again for a long time. Finally, he gave them his answer.  
  
"Fine. I'll follow you." Sephiroth agreed.  
  
"FOOL!" Jenova snarled. Sephiroth turned to her, annoyed. "YOU SHALL NEVER LIVE TO SEE THE LIGHT OF ANOTHER DAY WHEN I'M DONE WITH YOU, TRAITOR."  
  
Sephiroth raised his masamune high into the air. Jenova's eyebrows quirked in suprise. "You know, with an aditude like that, you won't last very long either." he stated. Before she could react, he brought down his sword on her and sliced her stomache. She split into two peices and fell on the ground.  
  
Her body quickly dissolved and soon there were no more remains of the former sorceress.  
  
  
  
The air was salty. And he could hear water. He tried to move his legs to get up but they buckled at once and he fell limp again. He couldn't even open his eyes. Something was in them. Then the ground beneath him gave away and he stumbled on his elbows and knees. Feeling the ground below, he identified it as sand.  
  
Loud, annoying squawks dove down into his ears and shocked him, giving his head pain. He finally mustered enough energy to open his eyes and he rubbed the sand out. "Ugh...where am I...?" he asked no one in particular.  
  
Rufus looked around. He was washed up ashore on a beach. But where was he? How did he get here...?  
  
The squawking gave another blow to his head. He looked up at the birds above him, glaring.  
  
"Would you mind to shut the hell up?!" he demanded. The birds ignored him and kept up their persistant squawking nontheless. Rufus groaned and rested his forehead in his hands. "How am I going to get out of this...?" he asked himself. There were no remains of the helicopter in sight, so he had no chance of getting off this island... Unless it was a continent...  
  
Rufus stood up immediantly, but he had forgotten about his legs.  
  
"Ow..." he grumbled, and sat back up. "Damnit... I need a doctor.."  
  
Then he heard the roar of an airship above. His head immediantly snapped to the noise and saw something most strange. The Highwind.  
  
"Avalanche...." he muttered.  
  
The Highwind kept going and landed not too far off into the continent. Looking around at the barren land beyond the beach, his mind gradually came to an agreement that he was in Wutai. Where else was the landscape so inhabited?  
  
He slowly got up once more, taking his time as he eased all of his strength into his muscles. He managed to stand, and he slowly made his way up the beach and towards where the Highwind had landed and into a nearby forest that was considerably small and probably the only thing that had growed since the war.  
  
As he walked he kept getting the distinct feeling that something was watching him. Instantly he turned around and stared at the landscape behind him for a few, long moments. Unsatisfied, he turned back around and continued on, the feeling becoming stronger.  
  
Then he heard a rustle in the brush behind him. Again, he turned to look, but what he saw was nothing. A drop of sweat began to fall down his brow and he reached for his gun in his pocket. Cold fear rose up quickly inside him when he didn't find anything.  
  
He looked in all of his pockets warily. There wasn't anything he could use! He was trapped!  
  
Then he saw two red, glowing eyes in front of him. He took a step back cautiously. Whatever was out there was definently after him, that much he could tell.  
  
He saw it lean down to prepare to jump at him, but before it could, he bolted. He heard it claw at the ground behind him as whatever was after him followed. Then it made one last leap and landed on his shoulders, and climbed up onto his head.  
  
He let out a shriek and grabbed at it, trying to rip the small creature off. "ARGH! LET GOT OF ME!!" he screamed, but no avail.  
  
The monster's paws came down to Rufus' eyes and started to claw at him. Finally, Rufus got a good grip of its mid section and ripped it off of him, throwing it as faw away as he could. Then he made to run again, but then instantly his legs buckled under him. He landed on his back and immediantly sat up to see his opponent get up itself, growling at him.  
  
It was a little cat looking monster, with little tuffs of fur over each of its four paws. Its tail was shrivled and spikey looking, its ears were like feelers from a bug, and it had two, evil looking wings on its back. But its fur was an unusual color, it was sort of a navy bluish color, and its eyes were no longer red, they were yellow. The eyes then slowly started to change a shade of pink and pink turned back to red.  
  
'Mood eyes...heheh...' Rufus mused.  
  
"Here kitty, kitty, kitty..." he ventured. The cat's eyes widened and turned to an orange color, and then finally, yellow again. It cautiously stepped over to Rufus, looking for every sight of danger. Rufus held out his hand bravely, in an attempt to make peace. It sniffed Rufus' finger softly, and then cuddled against it.  
  
"Heh, I knew you were a good cat." he muttered. The cat then seized him by the finger in betweet its teeth. His eyes just went wide and he swallowed the urge to scream. He quickly ripped his finger away and cradeled it, trying to make the pain go away. "Damn I hope that thing's not poisonous..." he said to himself.  
  
"I'm not."  
  
Rufus' eyes went wider then ever. His head snapped over to the cat. "Huh?" he asked dumbly.  
  
"I said I'm not poisonous." it repeated.  
  
Rufus lept back in shock.  
  
"H..h..h-h-how can you talk?!" he exclaimed.  
  
"Dunno." the cat replied.  
  
"There must be a reason?" Rufus asked.  
  
The cat sat down and licked its front paw in a thoughtful gesture. "Maybe." it began.  
  
Rufus sighed. "Well, if anyone you probably aren't going to tell me."  
  
"It's simple really." the cat continued. Rufus perked up at this. "I'm actually human."  
  
"What? How are you human if you're a cat?" Rufus asked. "Who are you?"  
  
"Heh." the cat mused. "I thought you'd of known. Who do you know can turn into a monster?"  
  
"That metal armed guy that Hojo expirimented on?" Rufus ventured a guess.  
  
"Nope. I'm talking without doing anything physical." the cat replied.  
  
"Ummm...." Rufus started to think. 'Who can turn into a monster...odd... nobody's done that before except.... That's it!!! Durring the war...!!' "You're a Kisaragi!" he proclaimed.  
  
"Very good!" the cat answered. "Hmm...just what is my name?"  
  
"....Yuffie?" Rufus guessed.  
  
"Ugh, wrong gender." the cat said with a disgusted tone.  
  
"Wrong gender? What, does she have a brother too?" Rufus asked the cat.  
  
The cat nodded.  
  
"I didn't know...." Rufus began when the cat pointed its paw at Rufus.  
  
"Of course ya don't. I've been guarding the Omni temple almost all of my life, so I've been long-forgotten." the cat explained.  
  
"Oh." Rufus said.  
  
There was a long silence.  
  
"You were going to kill my sister." the cat accused.  
  
"Yeah... pretty stupid idea now that I think about it." Rufus said. "It would of worked, if only I hadn't had the 'ladie's man' do the job."  
  
"Ya gunna try and kill me next?" the cat asked.  
  
"Nope. I've learned my lesson through trial and error." Rufus replied.  
  
"The hard way..." it mused.  
  
"What's your name, anyhow?" Rufus asked.  
  
"Karasu." the cat stated.  
  
"Karasu...? What does that mean?" Rufus questioned.  
  
"Raven." the cat said.  
  
"Nice." Rufus complemented. He then staggered to try and lift himself up. Surprisingly, a hand offered to help him. Without even thinking, Rufus accepted it and stood up fully, taking a couple moments to regain his balance. Then something triggered in his mind and he looked up. There was no longer a cat in front of him. Instead, there was a young man, about his age with dyed, blue hair. Streaks of the hair's old color, brown, were still noticeable, but in a fashion. He wore a dark, teal colored robe and brown colored, laced boots. His weapon of choice hang on a strap on his back, a long, teal ribbon hanging from the hilt, perferably discribed as a katana.  
  
"Hmm... Yes I do remember seeing you somewhere before." Karasu stated. "Aren't you the new president of Shinra? Because if you are, I will be more then willing to kill you."  
  
Rufus' eyebrows raised.  
  
"But, in your condition, I would be considered a coward. I'll wait until you're in full health again, and mark my words, I shall slay you." he said.  
  
Rufus sighed in relief. At least that would give him some time.  
  
There was another long pause.  
  
Then they heard a rustling from the vegetation not too far off.  
  
"I heard talking from this direction!" a male voice called out.  
  
"Damn..." Rufus muttered.  
  
"What is it? Do these people post some sort of threat to you?" Karasu asked.  
  
"Not really, but in my state, yes. His name's Cloud Strife." Rufus answered.  
  
"Then Yuffie's with them?" Karasu asked.  
  
"Can you just help me out of here?" Rufus asked frantically.  
  
"No." Karasu stated. "I want to see my sister again, so shut the hell up or I really will kill you now."  
  
Rufus fought back to urge to fight back, and stayed where he was. No doubt that if he bolted, it wouldn't take Karasu long to find him again.  
  
Then Cloud appeared into view when he pulled out of the trees and into the clearing Rufus and Karasu were in. He stopped and stared at the situation. Karasu and Rufus stared right back at him.  
  
In moments, Tifa, Barret, Yuffie, and Red had appeared behind Cloud and they stepped into view.  
  
"Where's the rest of yer posse?" Rufus asked.  
  
"In the Highwind. Don't know why you'd like to know." Cloud shot back.  
  
Karasu's eyes immediantly fixed on Yuffie's. Her eyebrow quirked, and then her eyes widened.  
  
The others took note in their eye contact and looked at both of them.  
  
"What's wrong?" Tifa finally asked.  
  
But neither of them answered.  
  
"Yo, what the hell's wrong with you two?" Barret also ventured.  
  
But they didn't even make a move.  
  
"I don't think words can reach them at this time, they are in such deep thought." Red indicated.  
  
Karasu then took a few steps closer to Yuffie until they were face to face, just inches apart.  
  
"Damn, somone check if there's an openning in Hell's gate." Yuffie finally said.  
  
"I never died." Karasu stated.  
  
"Really?" Yuffie asked. "I could of sworn that you were killed. You had a nice, bloody wound and funeral to go with it."  
  
"That was just a shadow I had made." Karasu explained. "Father still knows I'm alive."  
  
"And he didn't tell me?!" Yuffie exclaimed. Karasu simply nodded.  
  
There was a moment of silence.  
  
"Come on. Let's head back." Cloud suggested. "We can sort things out later. First we need to find out what to do with Rufus."  
  
Karasu and Yuffie nodded to Cloud, and they walked back towards the Highwind, pushing a reluctant Rufus along with them.  
  
~~~~  
  
Hmmm? I didn't know Yuffie had a brother, did you? ^-^ Yes, he's an original character I've made up. By the way, if any of you couldn't guess, his omni form that I tried to describe is one of those Gimme Cats from Final Fantasy IX (you run into them near Duguerro and they ask for a diamond) Please review and tell me what you think! Oooh and another thing, if you wanna see a picture of what Karasu looks like then go to my site (on my author's profile) and check.... It's not up yet but it will be in a few days!  
  
~~~~ 


	8. A Scream And A Wish

Chapter Eight  
  
  
  
'How did he survive my blow?' Sephiroth asked himself. Everyone else were in the infirmary, eating dinner. Karasu declines the offer and decided not to eat, as well as Sephiroth. Sephiroth noted that Yuffie gave him a cold glare and then followed the others reluctantly. She probably still remembered the moment. Sephiroth looked down from the pilot's deck to the dock where Karasu was standing, looking down at the sunset as the landscape flew by past the evergoing plane.  
  
'Is that really him?' he wondered. 'Or is this another one of his shadows?' he recalled hearing Yuffie say something about a shadow not too long ago. His eyes narrowed, as if trying to see through him. But he was most definently real. The jenova inside him said so. But the question still remained.  
  
'I will ask him myself, then.' he decided, and lept over the railing and onto the dock below.  
  
Karasu nearly jumped, and he whirled around to face him. His eyes went extremely wide and he stepped back, against the railing. Karasu remembered who this was, no doubt about it. And he hadn't changed. Sephiroth still had the cold, mako eyes of a murderer.  
  
"Wh...what do you want?" Karasu asked cautiously, looking as if Sephiroth had made a sudden move, he'd jump off and over the railing.  
  
"Don't worry, boy." Sephiroth said. "I won't hurt you, yet." he stepped closer to Karasu, his face expressionless. "I just want to ask you a simple question, that is all."  
  
"What is that?" Karasu asked, his right hand dropping to where his katana was on the strap on his back.  
  
Sephiroth reached for his own sword, but didn't grab it. "How did you survive when I supposedly killed you?" he questioned.  
  
"That I can not reveal to you." Karasu stated.  
  
Sephiroth's hand gripped around the hilt of the masamune. "Tell me or I will repeat history." he threatened.  
  
Karasu didn't make any moves, and neither did Sephiroth for the next few moments. They just stood there, glaring at each other, both ready just in case the other one decided to strike.  
  
Suddenly, as if somone had triggered a gun, Karasu drew his katana and, in a swift movement, stiked it upwards at Sephiroth's chin. Sephiroth jumped back and drew the masamune, and he dove at Karasu. Karasu jumped out of the way and landed on the other side of Sephiroth. 'No doubt a Wutain Dragoon Knight...' he thought to himself, and dove at Karasu again. Karasu brought up his katana just in time to block Sephiroth's blow, and Sephiroth in turn pulled away and striked again, at a different angle. Karasu, using his cat-like reflexes, side stepped out of the way, and then he turned and bolted, sure to himself that he'd get some cover if he joined the others right about now.  
  
He heard Sephiroth's footsteps behind him, and he ran faster. Then, he found himself at a dead end, and he stopped right in tracks and turned to Sephiroth, who was now walking calmly towards him, a smug grin on his face.  
  
"There's no where for you to run now, Kisaragi." he stated.  
  
"Fine." Karasu admitted in defeat. "What is it you want to know of?"  
  
"I want to know why you are still alive." Sephiroth stated, putting his masamune away. Karasu put his katana away and sighed.  
  
"Might as well tell you now..." Karasu admitted. "Okay, well... This is how I survived..."  
  
  
  
There were screams, cries, flames everywhere. The smell of burnt flesh and blood filled the large city, and no matter where anyone turned, there was destruction on the other side. Nobody cared about the city itself anymore, that part hadn't register yet. Everyone was too busy running in fear for cover as the Dragoon Knights of Wutai charged at the SOLDIER army. This was the final battle. After five, long years the war would finally be over. Just, who was going to win this one?  
  
Admist the battle, two little figures made their way carefully down the broken sidewalks, trying their best to ignore the chaos around them, trying to focus mainly on getting out of there alive. One of the little figures stopped and gasped, dropping to their knees next to a coarpse that lay on the ground, unmoving.  
  
"Sis..." said the other figure, and kneeled down next to her, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. She cried and cried, trying her best not to cry any more, but the tears kept on comming.  
  
"M...mom..." the girl weeped.  
  
"She's gone... We can't get her back..." the other figure said, almost sadly.  
  
The girl nodded and wiped tears from her eyes. The other figure leaded her back into a standing position. They continued on their way through the flames of their former town.  
  
Soon they were surrounded by cold, barren land. Bodies laid left and right, with a dead, burnt smell comming from everywhere. All the buildings were either destroyed or most likely close to it. The flames were behind them now, but they could still feel the heat and hear the cries went on and on. The boy had his eyes fixed on one place, and tried his best to focus on that place and not be distracted by everything around them. If they didn't get there quick, they'd be killed for sure.  
  
Just then he heard the girl cry behind him. He whirled around and saw an almost dead ShinRa SOLDIER. He had grabbed onto her ankle and was yanking on it, trying to pull her down. She screamed as loud as she could, as if thinking if she did he'd let go.  
  
"D...die....wu...tai....n...." the SOLDIER gasped.  
  
The boy quickly came forward and raised his katana. Then he brung it down in a swift motion and the blade rendered the SOLDIER's wrist. The girl screamed in horror and lept away, shaking the detatched hand off of her ankle. The SOLDIER fell limp and didn't respond to the action. He turned to the girl and grabbed her wrist and leaded her on, but this time in more of a dart. They were almost there. Just a little farther and they would reach the forest...  
  
They put on one last burst of speed and they reached the forest in an instant. The girl wanted to stop and rest, but he urged her on and they kept their stride. Even if they had reached their destination, that didn't mean they were safe yet. He could still feel the presence of danger and wouldn't stop running until it was gone.  
  
He took a glance behind his shoulder. The screams and flames were gone now, but he could still smell the burning, and he quickly turned his head back towards where he was running, using his dragoon skills to not hurt himself and fall.  
  
They flew out into the open plains. He motioned for the girl to stop, as did he. She looked at him questionably. In front of them was a short piece of land that jutted into the water towards the nearby Rocket Town, and to the south there was more burnt, broken land. The city used to have spread all across the continent, and it was hard for him to register in his mind that all of that was gone now. And in such little time, too!  
  
He motioned for her to follow him, and she did just that. He ran to the edge of the pininsula and looked out at the ocean in front of him. Rocket Town wasn't that far away. They could swim to it, even if they were only four and a half years old. He took a couple steps closer to the edge, when suddenly he heard the crunch of grass behind him. His head spun, as did the girl behind him, and what they saw was the most scariest man they had, or would, ever see in their lives.  
  
The man's smile turned into a twisted grin as he advanced on the two kids. The boy stepped in front of the girl in a protective manner. The man kept his pace, but the boy didn't dare risk the girl's life for his own safety. It just wasn't proper.  
  
"Karasu-kun!" the girl pleaded, "Run! Let's run away! This man's scary!"  
  
The boy paid no attention to her warning, of course, he didn't need it. But where were they going to run? He was blocking their only exit, and behind them was a sheer drop into the ocean, but they wouldn't make it out of the water alive. This cliff had a whole bunch of jagged rocks at the bottom of it and it would slice and dice them for sure.  
  
"Listen to the girl, boy." the man heeded wickedly.  
  
"S,stay back!" the boy warned. He drew his sword and stepped up to Sephiroth. Sephiroth quickly drew his sword, and before Karasu could react, he lunged at him. The next moment seemed to happen in slow motion. As Sephiroth lunged forward, Karasu dove out of the way, but Sephiroth turned on him in a second and pushed his long, six foot sword right at Karasu. It was long, and long enough to reach him. They were only a couple feet apart. The sword met his flesh and went right through his stomache, with room to spare to go out the other side. Blood trickled down from the wound, and Karasu's pupils turned to slits as the reality of death hit him hard in the gut. Sephiroth then ripped the masamune out of Karasu and let him fall limp to the ground, a small pool of blood forming on the ground under his chest.  
  
The girl ran to his side and kneeled to him, but then there was a bright shine of light. She sheilded her eyes with her arm but squinted to see what was going on.  
  
"Argh! What is this light???" Sephiroth demanded, sheilding his own eyes with his black caped arm.  
  
The light disappeared as soon as it appeared, but when it was gone, so was Karasu. The only trace of him was the tiny bit of blood that his body had spilled. Sephiroth's eyes widened in shock, but then thought the better of it, and laughed triumphantly...  
  
  
  
"So, that's what happened...." Karasu trailed off.  
  
"Hmm..." Sephiroth mused. He stood there, thinking for the next few moments, then turned back up to face him. "How did you survive, anyhow?" he finally asked.  
  
"I just told you." Karasu confirmed.  
  
"You said you disappeared..." Sephiroth stated. "How and where did you disappear to?" he questioned, looking at him critically.  
  
"Well... if you wanna know..." Karasu began...  
  
  
  
A small, purple cat with dragon like wings was in the middle of the forest, asleep, under the shelter of a bush, nesteled against one of the large, wutain trees. It slept soundlessly, as if in a very peaceful dream. Then, its whiskers stirred and opened one of its large, yellow eyes slowly and peered around. It opened its other eye as soon as it saw there was no danger, and stretched to its full extent, getting used to its newly gained muscles. It opened its mouth and yawned sleepily, its mouth growing bigger then would be expected. It blinked a couple times and looked around, its eyes illuminating a golden glow. Then it sat back down, as if contemplating something. It slowly lifted its paws to its own eyeview, as if afraid to see them. Its eyes furrowed in disappointment and then hung its head sadly.  
  
I had omnichanged...  
  
The cat shook itself of the rain, only to be hit with more, and tredded through the forest numbly, looking around from left to right, as if expecting to be attacked at any moment. Of course, that could happen to something if it was almost killed by a scary man in a trench coat. As it tredded, Karasu's voice was in the background, speaking to Sephiroth.  
  
Back then I didn't even know how I did it. I didn't believe it was possible. To tell you the truth, I didn't really think much of it. I had more important things to worry about, and I tried my best, as much as possible, to forget anything that had happened before I woke up in that forest as the gimme cat... I guess I always thought that my memories of before them were just a dream...  
  
Apparantly they weren't, were they?  
  
Yeah, but I'll get to that later.  
  
The cat peeked out the last of the forest and out at the fields. But there were no fields. All that there was was burnt, dry and smokey land, smelling of death and battle. The cat recognized it and its eyes widened. This place was very familiar, but it didn't care to recall from where. It sat back down and gazed at the open field, amazed by how gray and dull it looked. It then got back up and tredded down a hill to cross the burn city of Wutai...  
  
Answer me, now. How did you transport?  
  
Well...  
  
The large, red dragon reared up feircley and roared at its prey. Its prey was a boy in a teal colored cloak and a wooden katana, his hair brown and about the age of thirteen. It fell to the ground and shook the earth around it, causing its prey to stumble. This was its prey's fault, for then its neck leered back and then shot back out, snapping at its victim. He saw it comming and quickly threw himself out of the way, but was hit brutally in the shoulder. He fell too his knee, and glared back up at the dragon.  
  
"Oh, you're going to pay for that, you unearthly giant..." he grumbled under his hoarse breath.  
  
He raised his sword and got back to his feet, and ran at the dragon, letting out a battle cry. He then sprang up to an amazing height, using his dragoon skills to gain as much air as possible, and raised his sword above his head. As he felt himself come down, he lashed his sword down at the dragon and hit it in the forehead, lashing down across its snout and making a deep gash. He fell to the ground and with catlike reflexes, dodged the dragon's next attack. He quickly leaped out of the way as it dug its claws into the ground he was standing on just a moment ago. His eyes widened at the dragon's amazing speed and quickly pulled out a green colored orb, the size of a large marble, out from his pouch. He held it up in the air and gathered as much energy from the lifestream as possible. He had little time before the dragon did its next attack, thus this would be just a weak defense.  
  
A shot of ice flew out of the orb, and hit the dragon in the eye as it was about to open its mouth to fire at the little human in front of it. It screamed and immediantly shut its eye. The boy took this into account and decided it was time to bolt, but the dragon did not. It recovered quickly and roared at him, this time fire sputtering in every direction. The boy felt his cloak getting hot, and he quickly tore it off before it burst into flames. He didn't have enough time to stop, drop, and roll or any of that, he had to get out of there NOW.  
  
The dragon lunged at him with renewed vigor, finding out its prey's weakness, and the boy ran for his life in the north direction. He suddenly stopped short when he reached it, seeing it was a sheer drop down to the ocean below, but much longer down then a previous encounter. He whirled around and looked at the dragon in terror. He was trapped, and had no where to run...  
  
I would of died if I hadn't remembered what had happened...  
  
He did remember. The man in the trenchcoat. How he had reappeared in a totally different place, but not that far away. Surely he could use this mysterious power of his once more. He wanted to. He needed to. He concentrated hard, focusing all of his energy into being transported into any other place then where he was now. Anywhere but here. Then he felt the heat of the fire as it lashed out at him from inside the dragon's mouth...  
  
'I'm so dead....' he thought.  
  
Suddenly, he didn't feel the flames anymore. He opened his eyes and saw that he was behind the dragon instead! He smirked to himself and held up his katana high, and then ran at the dragon with a victorious battle cry. Before it could register what had happened, Karasu made the killing blow as he lashed down from the heavens, slicing the dragon neatly in half. He landed on the ground in front of it, and stared at it. His eyes showed no emotion, like he was looking right through it. Then he turned around, a small breeze lifted his hair from his face, and he closed his eyes, deep in thought of what just happened...  
  
  
  
"So, this whole time you were just trying to run away from the tragic dream of your past?" Sephiroth asked.  
  
Karasu nodded solemnly.  
  
Sephiroth took a glance over to him. 'I've really done this much...?' he asked himself. 'But, I didn't have a reason... This was from before when all I was was a mindless ShinRa zombie....a SOLDIER....' He felt the words comming up his throat, those two words he had probably never ever said in his whole life, but he swallowed them back. His lips turned into a twisted smile. 'I am not going to ruin my reputation for this sad omni...' he told himself.  
  
"Karasu..."  
  
Sephiroth and Karasu turned their heads to the source of the word.  
  
Yuffie dropped down from the rafters and landed solidly on her feet, in front of Karasu.  
  
"Yes, Yuffie?" Karasu questioned.  
  
"What did you mean that was just a shadow?" she asked.  
  
"What did I mean?" he began. "Well, technically, it was a shadow." He walked towards the wall and looked up thoughtfully. "Because, before somone transports, you send half of your body, which is, your soul, to your destination. Then, you send the rest of your body there."  
  
"What are you talking about?" Sephiroth demanded. "Your words make no sense at all!"  
  
"You see, if your soul can survive in your destination, then so can your body. It's like a test." Karasu explained. "It doesn't take long. Only about a half a second. But, when Sephiroth slashed me, it was right in that half second. It took my body longer to transport, he had delayed me. But since my soul was already out, only my body was destroyed. However..." he paused and turned to look at them. "As Yuffie already knows, omnis have two bodies."  
  
"I know that, too." Sephiroth commented. "Don't think I don't know my own enemies."  
  
"Good." Karasu stated. Then, he continued. "Anyways, omnis have two bodies. Their original human forms, and their enhanced monster forms. For me, I get the lil purple gimme cat. I don't know what Yuffie gets," Yuffie glared at him, "but it doesn't really matter. You had killed my original human body, while my soul had escaped and used the data in my brain to go into my omni form."  
  
"Whoa, whoa whoa. Back up a little." Sephiroth demanded. "How are you still human NOW?"  
  
"I was just getting to that part!" Karasu said. "Sheesh...okay, the reason why I'm human NOW..." he glared at Sephiroth, "...is because it took me a while to grow my human form back ! I was around the age of seven when I could walk on two legs again, but, oddly, I didn't look like I did when I was killed, but as if I really were seven..." he paused, and looked up at them. "I guess there's just some things you can't really explain."  
  
"You're telling me." Yuffie agreed.  
  
Sephiroth looked back in forth at the Kisaragis, contemplating his actions. Should he make his move and just kill them now, or should he wait to see the information that they wished to show them...?  
  
Footseps faltered his thoughts, and the three turned around.  
  
"Sephiroth, what are you doing?" Cloud demanded to know.  
  
"Nothing." Sephiroth answered. He walked past Cloud, turned the corner, and walked out of sight. Cloud watched Sephiroth, looked at Yuffie and Karasu, and then headed off after him without saying a word.  
  
"What do we do now?" Karasu asked, looking at Yuffie.  
  
"Follow." Yuffie replied, and walked around the corner also. Karasu shrugged and followed her.  
  
  
  
It was dark. Very dark. A voice was calling for help. But he couldn't reach it. He could make out a hand, he took it, but then it disappeared.  
  
His eyes widened. They had took his hand before. They had helped him out of the lifestream before. But, why had they disappeared now?  
  
"Who are you?!" he demanded the heavens.  
  
But he didn't get an answer.  
  
Then, all around, the area lit up. A hellish feeling rose and he gasped as he noticed something particularly odd with the place he was in. Everywhere he looked, there was blood. He walked to the wall and put his hand on it, then took it away. The blood stook to his hand. He tried to rub it off frantically, as if it were poisonous, but it would not come off. Suddenly something overhead caught his attention. He looked up. There was no ceiling. All that he saw was darkness.  
  
"Who am I?" a wicked voice asked.  
  
Then, before him, a figured appeared. He looked at it. All that he could make out was a shadow. But it was right in front of him!  
  
Two, long, slimey tentacles slumped to the ground beside it. Suddenly, as if somone had turned on a light, the creature revealed itself. Its lips were twisted into a devilish grin and its eyes were merely red and glowing.  
  
"Je...jenova...." he gasped, and took a few steps back.  
  
Jenova laughed evily. "Where are you going to go now, hmmm?" she asked.  
  
He reached back for his sword, but there was nothing there. His eyes widened. "Where's my sword?!" he demanded.  
  
Jenova shrugged, or what looked like shrugging with tentacles, and giggled bitterly. "I don't know. Besides, you can't hurt me, and, unfortunately, I can't hurt you. So, there would be no need for it anyway." she took a couple slips toward him, leaving a trail of blood behind her. He backed up against the wall, but she kept comming. "What's wrong?" she asked. "Trying to get away from me?"  
  
She was right in front of him now, and a tentacle slipped up his neck and wrapped itself around him.  
  
"You...I'll kill...you..." he gasped, trying to breathe. He choked and gagged. "You said you can't...hurt me..."  
  
Jenova just giggled. "Yes I did, but..." she paused agonizingly long, "...I never said I couldn't make you suffer !!!!" she squeezed even harder. He felt like his head would snap off any minute. He actually wished it would. Then, as his nerves were on their ends, he let out a scream of pain. Jenova cackled maniacally. "Ahahahahahaha! That's right, boy! Scream! Scream until you can't take it any longer!!!!"  
  
Then, his hands shot up and gripped her tentacles. Jenova's eyes went wide with fear. He pushed her back and ripped himself free, and then he fell into the endless darkness...  
  
  
  
"Oh gawd, somone make him STOP screaming!!!!" Yuffie complained, covering her ears.  
  
"What the hell's wrong with him?" Karasu asked, walking to Sephiroth's side.  
  
"Jenova's got him, that's what." Sephiroth snarled, and kneeled down next to Cloud. He was screaming and clutching his head in pain, down on his knees. Sephiroth firmly drew back a hand, and slapped him. Cloud sprawled out across the room, finally quiet.  
  
There was a moment of silence.  
  
"...that shut him up..." Karasu observed.  
  
"Shut up." Sephiroth snapped, not taking an eye off of Cloud.  
  
He slowly opened his eyes, and in front of him he saw the dull, grey ceiling of the Highwind. He blinked, as if testing if he was fully operable of his actions. Slowly, he stood back up, and he looked around dumbly.  
  
"S...sorry.." he appologized.  
  
Sephiroth didn't answer, but just glared at him with stern eyes. Then, he continued on his way, walking past Cloud once more. Cloud turned around and watched him.  
  
"Where are you going?!" he demanded.  
  
"You're not my babysitter." Sephiroth stated. "Don't follow me around. And I don't need to tell you where I'm going, either." he stopped, and then said without even turning to look at them, "I'll give you one day to show me who my 'real' mother is, and, if in that time I do not get enough proof, then I'll have to kill you all." he declared. Then, he jumped up and disappeared from view.  
  
  
  
She was looking down at the stars. Down at their reflection, actually. Her legs hung over the edge of a wooden bridge, and she gazed into the soft reflection of the millions upon millions of stars in the atmosphere.  
  
"There's so many..." she said to herself in awe. "As many as..."  
  
A shadow appeared behind her. She saw it in the water. Like a mirror.  
  
"...that night by the well?"  
  
Tifa turned around and smiled at seeing Cloud's face. "Yeah..." she answered.  
  
He took a seat next to her and looked up at the stars. She looked up at them, too. At least this way the vision wasn't so blurry. Then, they noticed one of the stars was moving rapidly. Tifa's eyes lighted up at seeing this.  
  
"A shooting star..." she stated.  
  
"Yeah... Great, isn't it?" Cloud asked.  
  
She turned to face him. "Let's make a wish!" she suggested.  
  
He turned and smiled at her. "Okay." he agreed. He took her hand with his. "I wish that I'll never have to leave your side." he said.  
  
Tifa blushed. "I....was wishing the same." she answered.  
  
He laughed. "Ironic. Do you think fate brought us together?" he asked.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"I mean... I could of DIED there when Zack was..er, 'killed'... But I wasn't..." he paused. "Neither was Zack..." he looked up at the stars again. The shooting star was nowhere in sight anymore. "Do you think Zack lived to save Aeris?" he asked.  
  
"I...I don't know..." Tifa replied. "I hope we find out how he lived. It's sorta hard looking at a whole bunch of people who you think are dead. I hope we figure out everything soon."  
  
"Raven said he lived because he had the power to transport...or phase..." Cloud stated.  
  
"...'Raven'...?" Tifa questioned.  
  
"He says it's his nick-name." he answered. "I don't think he likes being called 'Karasu' that much." he snickered, "It's sorta hard to pronounce, too!"  
  
Tifa laughed. "Kah...ra...soo..." she tried to sound out.  
  
"No, it sounded like he mixed an 'r' and a 'l' syllable together....like...Kah...lra..soo...." he trailed off.  
  
Tifa giggled. "I do like the name, 'Raven', better." she agreed.  
  
"Want me to change my name to Raven?" Cloud suggested.  
  
"Okay, that's going beyond cute!" Tifa countered.  
  
I'm...coming...to...get...you...  
  
Cloud's eyes went wide. Tifa noticed this and looked at him with concerned. "....Cloud?" she ventured, frightenly. After he didn't answer, she tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey....Cloud?" she tried again. Still, she got no answer. She frowned. "Damnit, Cloud! Answer me!" she grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him, trying to snap him out of his trance.  
  
"Help...me..."  
  
I'm...  
  
FLASH  
  
"z...aa...ck....za...ck....zack..." Cloud choked. Soon after, bullets flew and Zack was now on the ground in front of him, blood flowing rapidly under him...  
  
FLASH  
  
...coming...  
  
FLASH  
  
He ran into the room. Sephiroth lashed down and Tifa fell down the stairway, blood being ripped from her chest and flying through the air. She let out a scream in pain...  
  
FLASH  
  
...to...  
  
FLASH  
  
He opened his eyes to see Tifa. He was in a hospital. In a wheelchair. She was looking at him with her frightened, wine colored eyes. He tried to speak to her, to cry for help, but his body would not comply to his demands...  
  
FLASH  
  
...get...  
  
FLASH  
  
Her emerald eyes went wide as the sword was pulled through her pink dress and through her flesh, out the other end, and the sudden shock of death ate her whole as she finally took into account what had just happened...  
  
FLASH  
  
...you...  
  
FLASH  
  
His hand went through the wall of materia and to Sephiroth, and then he let go of the Black Materia...  
  
"Help me...Tifa, help me.." he begged. Tifa's eyes widened in fear. "Jen...o...va...Jenova...she's....got me...help...me..." he crumpled himself into a ball on the bridge, holding his head and choking back a scream, he didn't want Jenova to know she had got to him. He couldn't let her know!  
  
"Cloud...Oh my god, Cloud, just hang in there!" she demanded. "Fight her! Fight her as best as you can!!!"  
  
"I'm...trying..." he struggled to gasp. "I....can't....I can't....do it...." his eyes slammed shut and he got up to his knees, and then, he stood up. He opened his eyes. They were blood shot red, like they were back at the materia cave. He blinked,and then they were back to their original mako color. He struggled, fighting the force that was driving him mad.  
  
Hehee!  
  
Her giggle echoed throughout his whole self consiousness. It was pain. Her voice was pure pain in his head, and then he let out a gasp as he felt her claws wrap themselves around his mind and take him into her own control. "Ti...fa...run..!!!!" he warned.  
  
She stood up instantly and started to back away from him, towards the other side of the bridge. "Cloud...." she began. He blinked once more, and his eyes were back to the blood shot red.  
  
He lunged at her, drawing his sword in a swift motion from behind his back. Then, a blue streak flashed out and latched itself to Cloud's head. Tifa's mind jumped, and the blue creature started clawing at Cloud's head madly.  
  
"ARGH! GET OFF ME!!" Cloud screamed. Only this wasn't his voice. It was Jenova's voice, comming out of his mouth.  
  
"No!" the tiny voice of the gimme cat answered. "Jenova, let him go, this instant!"  
  
"Never, you damn omni!" Jenova shreiked, and then grabbed the cat by the neck and threw the cat to the side, and Karasu let out a yowl of surprise as he was thrown into the river, which had suddenly started to pick up speed. His head hit the bottom floor of the river, and his yellow, glowing eyes slowly closed, and he lost consiousness.  
  
"Raven!" Tifa yelled in surprise. Cloud turned back to her, Jenova's eyes twinkling with evil in place of his usual mako eyes. She brought her fist back. "....Allright, Jenova." she stated. "You want a fight so badly, then a fight you will get!" and then she lunged forward, and before Cloud could swing his sword, she struck him in the face. Jenova not having too much strength, Cloud flew across the bridge and landed on his back, his sword clattering to the ground beside him.  
  
He quickly got up and grabbed his sword once more. Tifa spun around and kicked the sword out of his hands, and it clattered back onto the ground. He glared up at her and lunged forward at her, gripping her neck.  
  
DIE!!!!  
  
Tifa heard her this time. But it was inside her head. Her eyes widened. She tried to scream for help, but she couldn't get out enough air. She couldn't breath!  
  
Suddenly, he let go of her. She gasped for air and stumbled backwards, landing onto the ground. She recollected her breath and then looked up shakily at Cloud. His eyes were full of terror, and he stepped back, panicked. His eyes were back to normal, and he was looking as if he had done something terribly awful. Then, he turned and ran the opposite direction, into the woods, and was out of sight in a matter of seconds.  
  
"Cloud!" Tifa yelled, and stood up, and dashed to edge of the bridge. "Cloud! Come back!!!" she tried again, but he didn't reply nor come back. "Oh no..." she said to herself. "He's...he's out there alone and Jenova's after him!" she then dashed into the woods and headed in after him.  
  
I've got to find him!  
  
  
  
Yuffie stopped short. Her eyes widened and she turned around. She listened closely to the sound she had just heard, and she was pretty sure it was a scream of terror.  
  
"What's up?" a voice in front of her asked, but she didn't pay attention to it, she was too transfixed on finding out what that noise was.  
  
Reno blinked and looked the direction she was looking. 'The hell is wrong with her..?' he wondered. Then he turned back to look at her. Her brow furrowed and she walked past him, heading towards the source of the sound. He blinked again and followed her, unsure of himself, but finding it he had no other choice.  
  
She stopped again. Maybe she was just hearing an illusion. Or maybe it was just the wind? A cold shiver ran down her spine. 'Who was that?!' she thought to herself.  
  
"Is something...wrong, Yuf?" Reno tried.  
  
She shook her head and turned back towards him. "I heard something." she stated.  
  
"What?"  
  
"A scream...of terror." she replied.  
  
He walked up to her side and looked in the direction she was looking at a moment ago. She turned to face the direction, too.  
  
"Was it comming from this direction?" he asked.  
  
She nodded. "Uhuh." she answered. "It sounded like...it was comming from..." she concentrated. It had been a split second, but there was one distinct feature to that voice. 'But what?' she asked herself. Over and over, she played it again and again in her head. Then, it hit her like a brick.  
  
"Comming from...what?" Reno questioned, leaning forward to her, looking straight into her eyes, concerned.  
  
"...Cloud..." she answered, as if not answering at all, but more like a surprised whisper. She ran past him, and he was after her in half a second.  
  
Then, she heard the scream again. This time, Reno had heard it, too. But it wasn't Cloud this time. It was...  
  
"That was Tifa!" Reno shouted up ahead to Yuffie.  
  
"I know!" she replied, not slowing down, but actually running faster.  
  
They burst out of the forest and into an open feild, surrounded by forest all around. In the middle, there stood Jenova, her many tentacles strewn across the ground. But two had gotten their mark on Cloud and Tifa, squeezing their necks hard.  
  
"Oh my gawd!!!" Yuffie gasped.  
  
Jenova heard her and turned to Yuffie in a split second. Her red eyes flashing, she whipped a tentacle at her in the blink of an eye. Before it could reach her, Reno pushed her out of the way, getting caught instead.  
  
"Reno!!" she shouted.  
  
"Go...leave..." he demanded, trying his best to breath. Jenova raised him up high up in the air, and soon he was around ten feet off the ground!  
  
"Stop it!!!" Cloud demanded.  
  
"You want me to stop?" Jenova questioned. "Fine." she replied to herself after a moment, and threw Tifa and Cloud across the plain, in Yuffie's direction. But, she kept Reno.  
  
"Let go of him!" Tifa shouted at Jenova. "He has nothing to do with you!"  
  
"If you don't let go, we'll kill you!" Cloud stated.  
  
"You were wanting to do that anyway." Jenova said. She brought Reno closer to her. "And besides, like you could carry out such a hopeless threat?"  
  
Cloud lunged at Jenova to punch her, but all that she did was bat him off to the side. Tifa tried the same, but was thrown into the same position.  
  
Then, Jenova started to drain the lifestream out of him! She cackled maniacally. "Ahahahahahaha! This man has some good energy I could use to kill you all! And then, I'll kill all your little friends in a flash!" she cackled once more, long and loud, and kept draining his lifestream energy.  
  
Yuffie looked at Jenova, horrified. "S...stop...pl....please....stop..." she begged. Jenova just ignored her. Helpless, she dropped to her knees and looked at the ground. She couldn't help but notice that a tear had leaked from her eye and down her cheek, and onto the grass below. She blinked several times. She looked back up at Jenova sadly. Wasn't there anything she could do?  
  
Then, Jenova dropped Reno, and he fell to the ground, unconsious. "Hmm.. maybe not as much as I expected, but what the hell!" Jenova observed. "Now, time to destroy you little pests." she paid no attention to Yuffie, and turned to Cloud and Tifa and started advancing to them.  
  
Yuffie stood back up, and walked over to where Reno lay. Her pupils completely disappeared, and she kneeled down, looking at him, as if in a trance. She shook his shoulder with one of her hands, but he didn't wake up. His breath was short, and would undoubtfully run out soon.  
  
Why won't he wake up? Who is this man? And who did this to him?  
  
Yuffie... You don't...remember...a thing...  
  
Wake up...  
  
Help the others.  
  
Who are you?  
  
Yuffie!  
  
Why do you know my name?!  
  
Snap out of it!!!  
  
...snap out of it...  
  
She blinked. This man knew her. He was dying. She wanted to know why he knew her. And the only way she would ever know that was if she were to save him.  
  
Her hair flared up, an undetected swirl of energy moving the air around her frantically. She stood up from her position by him. Jenova had almost reached Cloud and Tifa, but she didn't know who they were either. But it seemed to be a factor that the sorceress had done this to him. Black, feathered wings burst out from her shoulderblades, ripping holes in the back of her shirt. Her skin slowly tinted green, and scales started spreading across her skin. Her eyes turned green, and she regrew bright, golden colored pupils. Her fingernails turned into nastily long claws and her body grew smaller then her regular build. Her clothes disappeared, and so did all the rest of her humanoid features. She looked up at the sorceress menacingly. She was her target.  
  
Jenova felt the rise in strength from the girl she had left to kill last, and swirled around to glare at her. But she was no more. Now there stood a devilish, winged, humanoid lizard with long claws and green eyes. Her eyes widened and her face contorted with rage. "What the hell just happened?!" Jenova demanded to know. Yuffie didn't answer, but jumped at her. She was in front of Jenova in a split second, and was swiping at her front side with her claws, not taking time to think about her actions, but acting independantly on her anger.  
  
Jenova screamed and lept back, blood trickling from the gashes in her face and chest. She lunged at Yuffie and slung her tentacles around her waist, her sharp, white teeth illuminating her mouth. She made for her neck, and bit down hard.  
  
Yuffie screamed in pain. Jenova was getting control of her! She couldn't stop her, she was helpless, hopeless yet again!  
  
Why can't I have any real strength for once?  
  
She felt the cold blood trickled down her neck, and still Jenova wouldn't let go. She threw one of her clawed hands back and started gathering all of her chi energy left. Jenova's eyes widened and she let go of her neck and lept back, surprised.  
  
Then, Yuffie slung her hand forward and threw the energy ball at Jenova. It hit her square in the stomache. She collapsed, having used all of her energy, and breathed desperately, catching her breath. Jenova towered over her, only having being scratched from Yuffie's attack. She looked up at Jenova desperately, and then she lunged upwards and slashed at Jenova's face.  
  
Jenova screamed and lept back in horror, holding her eyes. She took her hands away and powered up her own energy beam. She fired at Yuffie, who quickly got out of the way. Then, she noticed something. Jenova's eyes were bleeding. They were split right in half.  
  
She's completely blind!  
  
"Alias!" Yuffie cried, and then, a whole bunch of illusional copies of herself filed around Jenova, circling her, mocking her, laughing at her. Yuffie smirked to herself. She had this one won, for sure.  
  
Jenova blasted at all the illusions that she could, directing her hits at the sounds. But she was completely confused, and ended up hurting herself more then enough times. Finally, her tentacles shimmered blue, and she casted a cure magic on her eyes.  
  
It was too late.  
  
In Cloud's hand, a new kind of sword appeared. Just out of thin air! It was blue, long, and dark. Millions of designs were plastered all over it. But, it looked like it was made of pure energy, and not any kind of metal at all!  
  
He charged at Jenova, yelling a battle cry, and slashed down at her. Tifa joined in and used her triple kick attack. Yuffie even reproduced enough energy to shine in her own attack.  
  
"Black aqua!!!" she cried, and sent a ball of black liquid tumbling at Jenova. It englufed her, but it didn't do much damage. All that it did was stall her.  
  
"Shimatta.." Yuffie cursed to herself. Then, she concentrated hard, and drew all of her remaining power...  
  
Cloud lashed at Jenova again. Tifa and him then preformed a combo attack where Cloud slashed Jenova and Tifa dropped-kicked from above.  
  
"Give back what you have taken!" Yuffie demanded, opening her eyes, and she ripped the lifestream out from Jenova's quivering and beat up body. It flowed back into Reno, who still layed on the grass not more then ten meters away. His fingers twitched, but that was the only sign he shown of life.  
  
Jenova screamed in anger and casted Ultima on the whole field. Yuffie sheilded Reno and herself with her barrier, while Cloud and Tifa quickly countered with their own magic defenses. When the blast subsided, Jenova was in a crumpled heap on the ground. The grass was now a grayish color, burned by the Ultima's blast.  
  
"I will...kill you all..." Jenova gasped. She then disappeared, leaving only her blood to prove that she was once really there.  
  
Cloud, Tifa, and Yuffie stood there in the field, too winded to do anything about it. Yuffie dropped to her knees and her scales and fethers fell off of her body, loosely, her clothes, skin, regular height, and features returning. Her eyes closed and she collapsed completely, unconsious.  
  
Tifa and Cloud walked over to her and looked down warily. She was still breathing, that much was certain, but how long would it take her to regain all of her strength?  
  
Then, a little, purple cat like monster darted out from the forest, its yellow eyes glowing like a flashlight would to help its way through the dark. It scampered to Yuffie's side and looked down at her. After a couple moments, it looked back up at Cloud and Tifa innocently, yet angry.  
  
"What happened?" Raven asked.  
  
"Jenova." Cloud answered.  
  
Raven hissed and the spikes on his back flew up with rage. "Ffftt! I'm gunna hurt her surely for this!!!" he told himself.  
  
"I'll make sure that I'll do any damage first."  
  
They all turned to see Reno, getting up by the suppord of his knees.  
  
"Reno, how did you cure yourself so quickly?!" Karasu demanded. He hissed at him, "And I'm going to do damage first! I'm not letting a shinra like you finish the job!"  
  
"He's not part of Shinra anymore..." Tifa began.  
  
"Yes he is!" Karasu snapped back, and then ran off back into the woods, not saying another word.  
  
"He needs an aditude adjustment." Reno observed.  
  
"No." Cloud countered. "He just needs to open his eyes..."  
  
"I don't blame him..." Tifa began. "Shinra almost killed him once before, and they've been his enemy ever since."  
  
Reno didn't reply. He picked Yuffie up and then looked back at them. "I suggest that we start heading back. The others will be worried." he said. He then started back into the woods, carrying Yuffie in his arms. Cloud and Tifa followed, seeing that that was the most obvious thing to do.  
  
~~~~  
  
I tried to make this chapter seem a little creepy, but IMHO I think I sorta failed at it x.X; Please tell me what you think! Reviews are welcome! I wanna know what you guys think I should do next or maybe some ideas, so I can make it better for you to read! Please review!  
  
~~~~ 


	9. Explanation Overload

Chapter Nine  
  
  
  
"Which way is it?" Sephiroth asked.  
  
"This way..." Vincent replied. He stepped forward to the waterfall. Sephiroth raised an eyebrow, but silently folloed.  
  
They walked through the waterfall, ignoring the fact that it had got them both wet, and were now in a dark, dome shaped cave. In front of them was a glowing, purple tinted light source, as if something there was actually living. There were no bats, no monsters, no other people here. Not even a bug. They were the only living beings there.  
  
Sephiroth looked around curiously. Vincent stepped up to the light source and stared at it. Sephiroth looked over to the caped man and walked over to his side.  
  
"Well? What are you going to show me?" he asked.  
  
Vincent didn't reply. Instead, in front of them both, appeared a ghost. A ghost of a woman with long brown hair and a white labcoat. She wore glasses, too, and her hair was tied into a neat pony tail at the top of her head. She looked up at both of them, and then a tear ran down her cheek as she noticed Sephiroth. Even though she had never had a chance to see her son, she knew it was him.  
  
"Sephiroth!" she gasped, and held onto him, crying in his chest. His eyes went wide and he stared dumbly at the ghost. He couldn't feel her, but it seemed she actually had a grip around him. He looked over to Vincent hopefully, but he showed no intention to free him from the ghost at all.  
  
"Who are you?" Sephiroth demanded.  
  
Her eyes went wide and she stepped back, a hurtful look on her face. "Don't you know?" she asked. "Don't you remember me?"  
  
Sephiroth shook his head, looking impatient.  
  
"But..." Lucrecia began. "It's me..." she looked up at him. "I am your mother!"  
  
Sephiroth raised an eyebrow. "I do not believe you. I need proof." he stated.  
  
Lucrecia sighed heavily. "I guess you do, don't you?" she asked, not expecting an answer. She walked forward to the light source. "I will show you, then." she said. Then she sweeped her hand up into the air, and before they knew it, they were watching the past, literally.  
  
  
  
"Hmm... very interesting..." a familiar scientist observed, looking over some computer data. "But what is the cause...?"  
  
"The cause for what?" another familiar scientist asked, stepping up and looking over the shoulder of the other one.  
  
The first scientist turned to the other one and thoughtfully. "Hello, Lucrecia." he greeted, then turned and motioned to the computer screen he was looking down at, "It's...it's something...quite odd..."  
  
"What? What?" Lucrecia asked anxiously.  
  
The first scientist laughed to himself triumphantly. "It looks as is Professor Ghast's theory was right." he observed.  
  
Lucrecia blinked and gave him a questioning look. She fixed her glasses and looked at the computer screen closer, as if the answer was on there. Not finding anything, she resorted to doing one of the things she rarely liked doing. She asked him. "What's so odd about that?"  
  
"It's not odd about the fact that his theory was correct, but it's about the theory itself." the first scientist explained.  
  
"Oh, do tell." Lucrecia agreed.  
  
The first scientist nodded in reply. "Well, you remember those childish expirimints Proffessor Ghast was doing on the cells of that monster that came from the sky two thousand years ago?" he asked.  
  
Lucrecia nodded. "Yes. Yes, I do. Does this have something to do with that?" she asked.  
  
"Indeed." the other scientist replied. "It appears that his theory was correct." he paused, and took in Lucrecia's excited face with a smug look. "It states that if you infuse a human with a cell from a monster, then that human will have all the abilities of that monster, plus their own."  
  
"So," Lucrecia began, "are you saying that if we infuse JENOVA cells into a human being that human will be able to do anything JENOVA could do?"  
  
The scientist nodded. "Exactly." he replied.  
  
"Wait..." Lucrecia said, "Are you actually going to do that?" she asked.  
  
"Why not?" the scientist asked.  
  
"Well, is there any reason to make super humans?" Lucrecia asked. "I mean, they could run amuck and actually cause some serious damage."  
  
"That's the risk I'm willing to take... for science." the other scientist replied, grinning evily. "Besides, we'll probably need the help later on. If we're loosing a war, what better then to send out the super SOLDIERs?"  
  
Lucrecia looked nervously at him, and then considered the consequences. Of course, even with all the possible outcomes, it wouldn't hurt to try, would it?  
  
"Okay." she finally said. "Let's give it a try."  
  
"I knew you'd see it my way." the other scientist agreed.  
  
Lucrecia looked at the computer for a few moments. Her eyes twinkled at Proffessor Ghast's amazing work, feeling pity that he had to be killed. "But...how are we going to do it?" she asked.  
  
"I got an idea..." Hojo said, eyeing her suspiciously.  
  
"No!" Lucrecia objected, reading his look. "There's no way! What about Vincent?!"  
  
"Come on, why go over a simple crush rather then the future of all mankind?" the other scientist asked.  
  
Lucrecia thought for a moment, then nodded solomnly. "Yeah... I guess you're right." she answered half heartedly.  
  
  
  
"That still doesn't explain much." Sephiroth objected as they returned to their own time.  
  
"Can't you see?!" Vincent demanded. "Hojo injected JENOVA cells into Lucrecia, and then he and Lucrecia had you!"  
  
Sephiroth's eyes widened. "You brought me here to tell me that?!" he asked. "JENOVA was the reason that I was born! Is that not a better reason to call her mom, rather then this pathetic little ghost?"  
  
Lucrecia's heart sunk and she dropped to her knees. "You've got to believe me!" she begged. "Please, please reason with us, Sephiroth. Is it better to be a god, then to have a happy life?"  
  
"So what if I don't have a happy life?" Sephiroth asked. "I'll have a happy eternity!" he then reached for his masamune and turned to Vincent. "I will now destroy you." he stated.  
  
"No! Don't!" Lucrecia begged even harder. "Please, please, please, please!!!! You have got to listen to me! I'm telling you the truth! I was the one who bore you! That makes me your mother!"  
  
Sephiroth turned to Lucrecia. "I don't really care!" he yelled back.  
  
"Why live an unhappy life as a god, when you could be having fun?" she asked. "Haven't you ever wanted to have friends?! Haven't you ever feeled alone?"  
  
Sephiroth's pupils turned into mere slits. "Who are you the one to guess what I feel?" he asked.  
  
"Because, I'm your mother." she stated, more softly. "And everyone feels lonely at sometimes." she paused, and smiled up at Sephiroth warmly. "Even the mighty Sephiroth." she finished.  
  
The masamune clattered to the ground, along with Sephiroth as he dropped to his knees in front of Lucrecia. He looked at her, a look like someone usually has when they're registering that somone really dear to them have died. And it was like that, too. His dream had died. Everything. His hopes of ruling the planet, everything he had been fighting for, disappeared right there. Jenova really wasn't his mom. This woman was. Only his mom would care this mcuh. Only his mom would know how he felt about things.  
  
He looked down at the ground, his eyes being shadowed by the hair in his face. "Why did you leave?" he asked.  
  
Lucrecia scooted closer to him. "I didn't have a choice." she answered. Then, for a few moments, the only thing that could be heard was the trickling of the water down the opening of the cave...  
  
  
  
"Even after all of this, he's still as hard as stone." Barret observed, looking at Sephiroth, who was in a dark corner, keeping to himself as usual.  
  
"Yeah, you're right." Cloud agreed, glancing at him as well. He turned to Vincent. "What happened, anyway?" he asked.  
  
Vincent shook his head. "I dare not say." he responded. "Sephiroth asked me not to tell. I will respect that."  
  
Cloud nodded in reply. Aeris then walked over to the group.  
  
"Sephiroth... is he on our side, now?" she asked.  
  
Vincent turned to her and nodded. "Yes." he answered. "Even though he still seems a bit cold, that's just the way he is."  
  
Aeris smiled. It was good to finally have him on their side. "But, now what do we do?" she asked, worridly. "Go after Jenova?"  
  
Cloud nodded. "Might as well get this over with once and for all." he stated.  
  
They were on the highwind, once more, heading for Midgar. Before they did anything, they had to make sure that Shinra was down for good, because if they got in their way, it could mean the planet's destruction and fall to Jenova.  
  
Cloud looked over to Rufus. Barret and Aeris followed his gaze warily.  
  
"What up, Cloud?" Barret asked. "Is that son of a bitch still bothering you?"  
  
Cloud shook his head free of his trance and looked over to Barret. "No, it's not that. It's just... I think he's been infused with Jenova cells as well." he answered.  
  
"Say what?" Barret asked, looking over to Rufus once more.  
  
Rufus raised an eyebrow back where he was, sitting in a chair and playing with a mind game the others gave him to shut him up. 'Are they talking about me?' he asked himself.  
  
"How could you know that, Cloud?" Aeris asked.  
  
"It's easy to explain."  
  
They turned around to see Zack, standing behind him, his arms folded across his chest, a darkening look on his face.  
  
"Those fused with Jenova cells can sense other Jenova cells. It was originaly a sense created for the reunion, but has since then stayed." he finished.  
  
Aeris looked surprised at him. "Do you think Jenova's trying to draw us all closer to each other?" she asked. "I mean, all the Jenova infused people? I she trying to regain all of her lost parts, so that she could have enough power to take over the world?"  
  
"Damn, girl. You think too much." Barret observed.  
  
"Well, it's possible, isn't it?" Aeris shot back, defiantly.  
  
"It is possible." Cloud said. "But with the self control we all have, it's highly unlikely."  
  
"You're wrong." Zack objected. Cloud looked over to him questionably. "Jenova knows how strong we are. She's not the kind to underestimate people. It's probably true that she knows how much self control we have, and she's probably gaining enough energy to face us." he paused and looked down at the floor thoughtfully. "Perhaps we may loose this one."  
  
"You're talking shit!" Barret exclaimed. "Ain't no way that damn freak's gunna win over US!" he paused and then added, more calmly, "We outnumber her in number, power, and strength. And in willpower. Ain't no way she can beat that."  
  
Aeris nodded to Zack. "Barret's right. Besides, who know's what will happen next?" she said.  
  
Just then the whole Highwind shook.  
  
"I hate it when you do that..." Cloud muttered under his breath. Then, they all ran downstairs for the dock.  
  
  
  
Karasu was already outside on the dock when the Highwind had shooked. He stumbled, and, if it wasn't for the hand railing, he would of fallen overboard. He looked up at the sky, and saw something on top of the Highwind. It was a dark, menacing figure. It had big, devil like wings that looked somewhat metallic. Its eyes shown red, and its skin matched its eye color. It was human shape, it wore a long, flowing, see through type black dress that went down to the ground. Instead of legs, it had tentacles, and instead of hands, it had long, deadly looking, jagged claws. As soon as it had seen Karasu, it jumped down toward him, letting out a shrill cry of anger.  
  
Karasu dove to the side, and the creature landed on the dock in front of him. He looked up at it for a split second, and then it slashed down a hand of claws at him. In the same instant he jumped out of the way, only getting the front of his face glazed. If he hadn't of moved, he would of been chopped into little bits. He turned and ran into the Highwind, closing the door behind. He took a few steps back, as if to see if his plan had worked.  
  
It didn't. With a slash of its claws, the creature ripped the metal door into shreds. Karasu winced at the noise it had made, and then nearly fell trying to back away from it.  
  
"Where is Sephiroth?" the creature demanded.  
  
"I'm not telling." Karasu replied.  
  
"TELL ME WHERE MY SON IS!!!" the creature demanded once again, and slashed its calws down at Karasu. He quickly jumped out of the way.  
  
Then, there was a quick blur in front of Karasu and the creature, and right after it had passed, the creature's arm flew across the room, blood dripping from the stub of its shoulder. It cried out in pain and glared at the direction the blur had landed.  
  
In its place stood Sephiroth, his mako eyes glinted murderously at the creature.  
  
"What are you doing?!" the creature exclaimed.  
  
"You are not my mother." Sephiroth replied, calmly.  
  
"YOU! THEY'VE BRAINWASHED YOU!!!" the creature demanded.  
  
'Jenova!' Karasu thought. 'That's gotta be!'  
  
Then, the rest of AVALANCHE and the Turks came down the stairs and joined the fray.  
  
"Jenova, this time we settle this for good!" Cloud stated.  
  
"No, you're wrong!" Jenova yelled back. She whipped her tentacles at them and hit Cloud, Cid, and Aeris. They hit the ground hard, streaks of blood running down their faces and necks.  
  
Tifa looked horrified back at her fallen comrades, and then back at Jenova. "I'll get you for that!" she yelled. She powered up and sent a barrage of kicks and punches at Jenova, then, right as she was about to strike back, jumped out of the way.  
  
Jenova laughed triumphantly, not being hurt at all. Her cackle echoed throughout the entrie air plane, and then the stub of her shoulder glew green, and then, as if ripping out of her body, and arm of tentacles flew out, replacing the old ones.  
  
"I'll just play with you!" she exclaimed, and sent her own attack of needles in every direction.  
  
Aeris stood up, feeling the blood on the right side of her face, and then glared up at Jenova. She raised her staff and it started to glow white. She concentrated hard, closing her eyes and tapping into her cetra power. She opened her eyes again, and they glew a faint greenish glow, and she then she swung it down.  
  
"What are you doing?!" Jenova gasped, sheilding itself with its tentacles.  
  
A holy light shone from the tip of her staff, and it beamed towards Jenova at an alarming rate. Jenova was hit with the light hard, but before she could be affected, she flung out a tentacle and it caught Aeris' rod and snapped it in two.  
  
"My rod!" Aeris exlaimed, picking up the two peices.  
  
Jenova cackled triumphantly. She was surely winning, she had to be. Then Aeris brought out her hand and once again sent the light at Jenova.  
  
Jenova screamed in agony as she was hit, unprepared. She dropped to her knees and cried out, her shreik ringing the ears of everyone that was in the air plane, and anyone who was on ground for miles.  
  
After the light had cleared, Aeris dropped to her knees, drained of energy. While Jenova was still recovering, Cloud ran at her to slash her. But she was too fast. She leaped out of the way, and in an instant she grabbed a random target with her tentacle.  
  
It turned out to be Rufus.  
  
"Rufus!!!" Karasu yelled.  
  
But before they could do anything, Jenova leaped out of the room, off the dock, and out of sight.  
  
Sephiroth's eyes widened and he ran for the dock, but by the time he had reached it, Jenova was nowehre to be seen.  
  
"Damnit!" he cursed. Behind him, Cloud and Zack approached, looking out at the sky as well. In the distance was the dark city of Midgar, but Jenova was nowhere in sight.  
  
"Why the hell did she take Rufus?!" Cloud demanded.  
  
Sephiroth turned to Cloud, not responding.  
  
"Answer me! Why did she take one of us? We're stronger, aren't we?" he demanded again.  
  
"Because, he's the leader of the whole SOLDIER army." he pointed out.  
  
"What's she planning to do with SOLDIER?!" Zack asked.  
  
Sephiroth shrugged. "Hell if I knew." he replied.  
  
  
  
"What the hell are you doing?!" Rufus demanded, trying to get free of Jenova's grasp around his chest. He looked down at the ground below. They were high up. But at least they were heading to Midgar, maybe then he could finally run away from Jenova and regroup.  
  
"Taking you back to your little electricity company." Jenova replied.  
  
"What?!" Rufus exclaimed. "Why would you want to do that? You're not supposed to be on my side!"  
  
"On the contrary," Jenova said. "I am on your side. That is, if you will agree to help me take over the world with the force of your SOLDIER troops."  
  
Rufus paused before saying anything. "And if I don't...?" he asked.  
  
"I will kill you." Jenova simply said.  
  
"But how would you control my army then?!" Rufus demanded to know.  
  
"I can take on the form of anything I have killed." Jenova pointed out.  
  
Rufus' face went pale. Then why didn't she just do that? Wouldn't that of been easier then dragging him along? What the hell was she going to do with him?!  
  
Then, Rufus got an idea. He wasn't going to follow this freaked out sorceress's plans, that had been made up in his head a long time ago. He opened his mouth and bit down hard on the tentacle that was wrapped around his waist.  
  
"What the fuck are you doing?!" Jenova exclaimed, just realizing the pain that such a weak, mortal human could make just with his teeth.  
  
Rufus didn't let go. He kept biting down, harder and harder. Green blood oozed from the wound he was creating in Jenova's tentacle, and she screamed in pain. Finally he let go and so did Jenova, and he fell towards the darkening city below.  
  
"That damn fool!" Jenova cursed. "The fall will kill him! Didn't he see that?!"  
  
But Rufus had other plans as he dove down into the darkness of the city below, and out of Jenova's sight and reach.  
  
He had timed everything perfectly. Below him was the pillar to Sector Three. He dove down the shaft in the middle of the pillar and grabbed at the wall. He kept both of his hands on the wall, though he didn't grasp anything. But he knew that there was something to hold down there somewhere. After all, he had designed the pillars like that just in case of collapse.  
  
He finally found the hold, and he gripped on it for all his dear life. His body swung in an arc and he flew upwards, almost loosing his grip on the hold. He fell back down and this time didn't go back up. He breathed heavily, a bead of sweat making its way down his brow.  
  
"Damn, I'm never going to do that again." he told himself. He looked around. All he could see was darkness. There was at least twenty feet of air below him, and if he jumped he'd be dead for sure. He took a risk of removing one hand from the hold and found that it was actually quite easy to grip onto. He reached around in his pocket for his cell phone. Surely AVALANCHE hadn't took that. But then he found his pocket was empty. He cursed to himself.  
  
"Shit! They did take it away!" he said. He looked around frantically. There was no way he could hold out like this forever. He would either loose his grip or die of starvation. Whichever came first, it would lead to him falling to his doom.  
  
"Maybe there's somone on the other side..." he muttered. He then brought his fist back and pounded it against the wall. He tried it again and again, but still he got no answer.  
  
"HELP!" he yelled out to no one at all. His voice echoed loudly throughout the whole inside of the pillar. "Maybe if I do that again it'll make its way outside..." he mused. He started pounding on the wall with his free hand and kept yelling. "HELP! SOMONE GET ME OUT OF HERE! I DEMAND IT!!!!!!"  
  
"Rufus?" a voice from down below echoed.  
  
Rufus grinned to himself and looked down triumphantly. "Yes! It's me, damnit!" he yelled back down. "NOW GET ME THE HELL OUT OF HERE!!!!"  
  
"Yessir!" the voice replied, and he heard footsteps leading away from the pillar.  
  
He waited, dangling on the small hold he had for what seemed forever. His hands were getting strained, and he didn't think he could hold on for much longer. Just when he was thinking about just letting go, a rope dropped from above and hit him on the head.  
  
"What the fuck?" he asked himself. Then he turned his head upward as he grabbed the rope. "DON'T HIT ME ON THE HEAD NEXT TIME, OKAY?!"  
  
"Yessir!!!" a voice echoed back down. "You can climb up now, sir!"  
  
Rufus grumbled to himself and started to pull himself up using the rope and the wall of the pillar. He wasn't down that low, and the pillar wasn't very high. It was about fifty feet. After climbing about thrity, which seemed to take forever and a day, he finally reached the top. A guy in a SOLDIER uniform helped the winded president up and out of the pillar to the top of Sector Three. Rufus glared coldly at the SOLDIER and then looked around.  
  
"Can you get me to my office?" he asked.  
  
"Yessir." the SOLDIER replied, saluting him. He then guided Rufus back to the center of the gigantic, two story city, where the ShinRa Tower lay.  
  
They had made it inside safely, and Rufus bid the SOLDIER back to his usual duties. He then went to the elevator and went up to the sixty-ninth floor, his office. He stepped out of the elevator and approached the two SOLDIER guards at the entrance of the office. They both turned to look at him, and then looked at each other, confused. They turned back to Rufus' direction and one of them glared at him.  
  
"What do you want, impersonator?" the SOLDIER asked.  
  
"What do you mean, 'impersonator'??" Rufus spat. "Don't talk to your boss like that! You're getting a demotion for that!!!"  
  
"Yeah, right." the other SOLDIER added.  
  
"I'm telling you the truth!" Rufus explained. "It's me, Rufus! Rufus ShinRa!"  
  
"President Rufus is already in his office." The first one said. "Looks like you're a little late to impersonate him."  
  
"What?" Rufus asked. "I demand to see him!"  
  
The guards looked at each other again, nodded, and lead Rufus inside. Rufus followed them, and then they stepped out of his way to face the 'president'. Rufus' eyes widened and his jaw dropped when he saw who was at the desk. It was as if he was looking through a mirror.  
  
There, in front of him, at the desk, was himself. He had his feet propped up on the desk and laid back in his chair, looking at the Rufus that had just walked into the room with surprise. The one at the desk quickly got up and glared at him.  
  
How the hell did you survive that fall?  
  
Like I'm telling you?  
  
ANSWER ME!!!  
  
Never.  
  
"What is this?" the one at the desk asked the guards.  
  
"An imposter." said one.  
  
"What should we do with him, sir?" the other asked.  
  
"Take him to the sixty-seventh floor and lock him in a jail cell." he stated. "I will think about what I should do with him later." he stood up and walked over to the real Rufus so that they were nose to nose. Then, he whispered in his ear, "Never...underestimate me." 'he' whispered in 'her' real voice.  
  
Rufus' eyes widened, and then the guards grabbed him by the arms and started to lead him down to the sixty-seventh floor. Rufus struggled with all of his might. There was no way he could get free. Then, he used his escape tactic again.  
  
"AW!! MY ARM!!" the guard yelled, gripping his arm and letting go of Rufus. The other guard let go of his grip in surprise, and that was when Rufus bolted for the elevator.  
  
He quickly pressed the buttons 'zero' and 'one'. He heard sirens screaming and the lights in the elevator flashed red. Then, on the intercom in the elevator, a voice yelled, "WE ARE WAITING FOR YOU AT THE BOTTOM. YOU ARE UNDER ARREST!"  
  
Rufus thought for a second. Wasn't there another way out? He looked at the buttons on the elevator desperately. If they were all waiting for him there, wouldn't there be nobody on the other floors? But what good would it do if he just went to some random floor? All that it would do is just stall them. But then he got an idea. There was a stairway, too. It lead out to the back of the tower!  
  
He quickly pressed the buttons five and nine, and the elevator jolted to a stop and then started upward again. When the elevator got to the fifty-ninth floor, he looked around first. It was completely deserted! He ran for the stairway and quickly closed it shut, as if no one had ever tampered with it.  
  
"Yes, I'm going to get out!" he muttered to himself. He quickly ran down all of the stairs as fast as he could. This would take him a long time. He had to do this quickly, before anyone would get that idea. He grabbed onto a rail and jumped down to the next floor, and did that to the next floor, and the next, and so on. In a matter of moments he had made it down to the last stair way. He leaped over the railing for the last time and burst through the door. Seeing no one around, he dashed out and into the shadows of the alleyways...  
  
  
  
"Gawd, this just keeps getting weirder and weirder." Yuffie said. She was in her dorm in the Highwind, on her head and reading a magazine. In the room with her was Reno, who was sitting on the bed across the room, tinkering around with his stop watch. Also, Karasu laid at her feet in his gimme cat form, purring softly and sleeping contently.  
  
"You're telling me." Reno agreed. "Now my boss is gone, and that leaves us back at square one." he paused, and then looked over to her. "The question is, why Rufus?"  
  
Yuffie threw her magazine in a random direction, falling over Karasu's head. The little gimme cat's eyes widened, and then it shook vigerously, flinging the magazine in front of the door. It then went back to its previously peacful sleep. "I dunno. Maybe she wants to control him or something."  
  
Reno gave her a sour look. "How the hell could she do that?" he asked.  
  
Yuffie shrugged. "Dunno. But I think I heard Cloud and the others saying something about him having Jenova cells too, so I guess it's possible." she replied.  
  
"It is quite possible." the gimme cat squeaked. Yuffie and Reno looked over to it. "But I wanna kill Rufus, we have to save him. If I don't kill him I don't know what I'll do to myself."  
  
"You're not going to kill him." Reno stated.  
  
Karasu glared up at Reno. "Wanna bet?" he challanged.  
  
"Nah." Reno responded. He laid back down on his bed and looked up at the ceiling. "I don't really feel like fighting anyhow."  
  
Karasu growled, but said nothing more.  
  
Yuffie sighed and looked warily at the clock. "I wonder what they're going to do to him..." she wondered aloud.  
  
"I guess we'll find out some time, sooner or later." Reno replied, not even looking at her.  
  
"I just hope it's not too late..." Yuffie muttered.  
  
Then, the music on the clock radio stopped and an announcer started talking.  
  
"Hey! They cut through my favorite song!" Yuffie said, glaring at the clock.  
  
Reno sat up and looked at the clock also, a weirded expression on his face. "The hell?" he grumbled, for he had too liked that song.  
  
"We have just discovered some breaking news! Rufus ShinRa has declared a war with Wutai. The faults are...well, nothing I guess." the announcer paused. Yuffie slammed her fist on the desk next to the clock in frusteration. "But they will soon fall to ShinRa. Because nobody has ever won to ShinRa. Not even Wutai in their last fight. Now, on with the music request line..."  
  
Yuffie picked up the clock, and threw it across the room, too, snapping cord and it hit the door and bounced off to a shadowed corner.  
  
Karasu blinked and looked up at Yuffie. "What are we going to do now? You know this means we will have to kill him." he said.  
  
Yuffie turned and glared at Karasu. The cat's ears lowered in fright and stepped back.  
  
Reno stood up and walked over to her. "Yuffie, don't..." he said.  
  
Yuffie stopped and sighed. "Sorry..." she said to Karasu.  
  
"Apology accepted." Karasu confirmed, but still wide eyed and amazed. Then, he pounced off the bed and headed for the door. "I'm going to go warn the others." he said, and pushed the door open with his paws, and then skittered down the hallway and out of sight.  
  
Reno walked over to the door and closed it shut, then looked back towards Yuffie. Her eyes widened at the expression on his face. It was the same expression an adult would use on a child that had to be taught a lesson.  
  
He walked over to her calmly, and then looked down at her. Yuffie looked up at him innocently, as if to proove that she hadn't done anything bad.  
  
"What do you want?" she asked quietly.  
  
"Yuff, what were you just about to do?" he asked.  
  
Yuffie looked down at the bed beneath her. "What do you mean?" she questioned.  
  
"You know what I mean." Reno said, sounding surprisingly stern. "If I hadn't of stopped you, what would you have done?"  
  
Yuffie looked up at him once more, but she didn't answer.  
  
"Answer me." Reno said.  
  
"I...I don't know..." she replied, looking back down at the bed.  
  
Reno lowered himself and sat next to her. His hand met her shoulder, and he gently pulled her closer to him, so that their eyes met. "Yuffie, you need to control yourself." he stated.  
  
"I...I..." Yuffie felt at a loss for words. Then her face grew angry. "I don't have to listen to the likes of you!" she spat.  
  
Reno just frowned at this. "Yuffie, if you don't, you could omnichange and kill somone that you love without notice. You know that that could happen." he tried to reason with her.  
  
"How would you know?" Yuffie asked. "And why would you care?"  
  
"Because, it might be me." he said.  
  
Yuffie's eyes widened. "What are you saying?! Are you demanding that I love you?!" she asked.  
  
"No, I'm not demanding anything." he snapped back. "Stop putting words in my mouth, damnit! What the hell is wrong with you?!" he glared at her. "Why can't you just accept the fact that you like me?"  
  
"Because, I don't!" she said. "I don't like you, or any man! And I will never like anyone for as long as I live!!"  
  
"You even said that you liked me once..." Reno said, a bit more calmer.  
  
Yuffie's face went from anger to an expression that looked like a mix between surprise and sadness. His other hand gripped her other shoulder and he pulled her closer to him.  
  
"Yuffie, what happened?" he asked.  
  
"I...I'm not telling..." Yuffie stammered.  
  
"C'mon....you can tell me..." he replied.  
  
Yuffie looked down at the bed and sighed. "Wh...when I was fifteen... My dad forced me to get married." she began. Reno's eyes widened at this. "Three months afterwards, the man was killed. He was killed by Shinra." she looked up at him. "I...I hated him. He and I never paid attention to each other.... After he was killed, I...I ran away..." a tear fell down her cheek, "I just don't want that to happen again... I promised myself... And I don't want to break it..."  
  
"Yuff..." Reno began, and then pulled her closer. "I'm not going to hurt you, no matter how badass I might make myself out to be, I promise you..." he paused, taking in Yuffie's glinting eyes with consideration. "Please...please just give me a chance..."  
  
He then drew in and kissed her...  
  
I love you...  
  
~~~~  
  
Chuu:OMG! They finally did it! =D Anyways, review and tell me what you think! Chapter 10 should take a lil bit longer though, sorry to say, because I got a lotta writings I wanna finish up first. But I'm talking like, 2 weeks or so late. Sorry! ;_;  
  
~~~~ 


	10. Wutain War II

Chapter Ten  
  
"We need to think of our next stradegy." Cloud said. They were back in the infirmary, where they always made up their plans. Their meetings were more frequent lately, with all the new events, but this one was one of the worst. "If Rufus really is going to attack Wutai, we need to try and talk him out of it."  
  
"I say we jus' kill the damn foo'!" Barret suggested. "He's been nuthin but trouble since day one!"  
  
"He's right!" Cid agreed. "The little fucker hasn't done any good since we've met him!"  
  
"How do we know that?" Tifa asked. "What if he's really somone else?"  
  
"What do you mean, 'someone else'?" Zack asked, looking at her questionably.  
  
"Well, what I mean is that maybe he's not the person we think he is." she replied.  
  
"What do you think he's really like?" Aeris asked.  
  
"Uhm," Tifa started, and stood up to get everyone's attention. "I think that he's really just trying to be the person that everyone thinks he is. He doesn't want people to get the wrong idea and start spreading rumors."  
  
"Possible." Vincent observed.  
  
"Rufus has been kind of...aloof... lately." Rude said.  
  
"Yeah! You're right!" Elena agreed. "Like, a couple days before we joined your team, he was really quiet, especially for him. And he was acting strange, too!"  
  
"That really adds the evidence on." Cloud said. Tifa sat back down beside him and watched him. "But still, we don't know what he's really planning."  
  
"I have a good guess."  
  
They all looked over to the door to see Reeve and Red, standing side by side, Reeve with a note in his hand, and Red looking angry.  
  
"What's up?" Barret asked.  
  
They walked over to the table, Red standing on his hind legs to see over the table, and Reeve set the note on the table.  
  
Cid picked it up and read aloud, "'Everyone, I'm going to go see Rufus. He's definently not the cause of all this. Jenova is probably just taking Rufus' form, because he told me in all honesty that he didn't even want to bother with world domination anymore. And he wasn't lying. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Singed, Karasu....' DAMN! The little bugger went out on his own!!"  
  
"How did he get off the plane?" Aeris asked, her eyes going wide.  
  
Everyone went silent.  
  
"I observed that he had wings." Red finally said.  
  
"Oh yeah..." Aeris agreed, feeling stupid.  
  
"Well, this means that we gotta head to Wutai." Cloud stated.  
  
Everyone turned and looked at him. "Why?" they all asked in unison.  
  
"Because." Cloud replied, scratching his head. "It's the only sensible thing to do."  
  
"Eh, beats sittin' 'round here all day!" Barret agreed. "Meetin's dissmissed!" he pounded the table and everyone scattered to their own places to await the trip to Wutai.  
  
As soon as Rude and Elena got out of ear shot, however, they had some concerns of their own.  
  
"Hey," Elena whispered. "Reno wasn't at the meeting."  
  
"You're right." Rude replied, and looked around. "I don't know where he is."  
  
"Do you think?" Elena began.  
  
"No, he probably didn't go with Karasu." Rude said.  
  
"No, not that!" Elena whispered harshly.  
  
"Oh, you mean....Hey wait! Yuffie was gone, too..." Rude's eyes went wide.  
  
"Damnit, knowing him he's probably got her in that position." Elena said, annoyed.  
  
"Let's let them be." Rude replied.  
  
  
The next day the Highwind was just nearing Wutai. Everyone was out on the dock with their best armor and weapons equipped, all the items they'd need, in case anything bad should happen. They waited out on the dock until they were over it, and then climbed down the ladder and watched as the pilots of the Highwind directed it to a safe hiding place.  
  
"I've taught those guys pretty damn well." Cid observed.  
  
"Yeah, whatever! Let's just go and save Wutai already!" Yuffie said.  
  
Cloud nodded and they started to head into the city. Something was different, and even though there was a big change in the city, none of them were surprised. They had all seen the results of war at least once before. There were SOLDIERs around every corner. They had to keep especially hidden this time, because they didn't want to get spotted yet. The SOLDIERs were fighting the troops from Wutai, and they were fighting to the death. Other SOLDIERs were directing innocent civilians to go with them and into captivity, and the others had to hold Yuffie back in order to restrain her from omni changing.  
  
Then, out of nowhere, a pair of SOLDIERs walked up behind them. They quickly turned around and the SOLDIERs quickly picked up their guns and aimed. Before they knew it, Cloud and Zack preformed a double slash attack with their swords, followed by a barrage of bullets from Barret's gunarm, Elena's and Vincent's shotguns, and Reeve's own mako gun.  
  
Within seconds, the SOLDIERs fell. But with that, all the SOLDIERs around them noticed, and saw them as the bigger threat, other then the civilians.  
  
Yuffie quickly pulled out an ultima materia and an all materia, and combined them both and targeted all the SOLDIERs around them and let the magic energy fly from the little orb. Instantly they were surrounded by green light, and the only the SOLDIERs (except for Cloud and Zack, of course) were destroyed. Quickly more came into view, startled by the flash of the ultima spell.  
  
Yuffie cursed under her breath. "Shimatta..."  
  
"Damnit, Yuffie!" Tifa exclaimed, and pounded a nearby SOLDIER in the face, only to heel drop him in the back of the head as he fell down.  
  
Cloud and Zack teamed up once more, slashing at all the SOLDIERs that came in their way, splitting each one in two. Aeris ran around healing everyone that she could that were on her side, and Reno electracuted anyone that came close, keeping more of an eye on casting support magic like haste and barrier. Sephiroth slashed with his sword with little effort, killing them with ease. The SOLDIERs were strong, though. Stronger then any normal human. They could withstand hitting blows, and even would have enough guts to reach for their guns and shoot even with the lower half of their body seperated from themselves.  
  
That was the tough part. Getting them to actually die.  
  
Tifa was about to punch another one in the face when one of the SOLDIERs' hands grabbed her by the ankel. She shreiked and kicked it away, stepping on its face, ignoring the cracking sound as its nose went up into its brain. She quickly turned around and elbowed the SOLDIER in front of her in the face, and then kneeled it in the stomache, and with a finishing move, drop kicking it in the spine, making it break in two at the neck.  
  
Red and Cid were seperated partially from the others, fighting on their own. Red casted fire with the combination of his all materia, hitting all the SOLDIERs in sight. Cid quickly finished them off, swiping furiously with his spear in every direction. Then, he felt a bullet lodge into his shoulder and cursed. "Shit!"  
  
Aeris saw him fall to the ground and quickly hurried over, dodging all the other SOLDIERs and casted cure3 on him. Revived, he quickly got up and dove his spear through the stomache of the SOLDIER that shot him.  
  
Then, after a long and hard battle, something finally caught everyone's attention. At first all that it was was a low rumble, going on and off. Everyone ignored that, figuring it was just some bombs, but then they all stopped and looked up warily as a shadow clouded the sun. In front of the city stood a tall, menacing figure, resembling a giant. Water dripped from it, and it had red, glowing eyes the size of a normal car.  
  
"It...it can't be..." Aeris gasped.  
  
"E..e..." Cloud began.  
  
"Emerald WEAPON." Sephiroth said darkly, glaring up at the humongous figure.  
  
It let out a huge, earth shaking roar that seemed to rumble and echo from every direction. It brought one of its giant legs up and carried it closer to them, and brought it down on one of the new, large, business towers. Yuffie winced as it crushed the small building with ease.  
  
The SOLDIERs, however, had different plans. They turned around and ran from the scene, screaming in horror. But AVALANCHE, being as stubburn as they were, stood their ground.  
  
"What are we going to do?!" Tifa asked, looking over to Cloud desperately.  
  
"Fight it." Cloud replied as if it was the most simplest answer in the world.  
  
"Dis bitch is going DOWN!!!" Barret agreed, reloaded his gun arm with fire ammo.  
  
"That would be the idea." Red agreed himself, going into his own fighting stance, crouched down, his cat reflexes ready to spring at a moment's notice.  
  
The WEAPON took another step closer, lifting its massive leg, which seemed to move in slow motion, and bringing it down. Yuffie's eyes widened as she noticed where its landing spot was. The one place she would rather have it not hit in the whole entire continent, and it had to hit it.  
  
The Pagoda of the Five Mighty Gods.  
  
Reno raised an eyebrow as he caught sight of her through the corner of his eye. He jerked his head over and looked at Yuffie, and ran to her through the rubble seperating them. Her skin was changing, already turning into green scales. Her shoulder blades were about the rip out from the back of her shirt, and strong, feathered outlines shown through the cloth. Her pupils grew to slits and she began to grow claws. Reno caught up to her, and all the others looked at the sudden burst of movement as he drew back a hand and quickly smacked her across the face.  
  
Yuffie fell to the ground, the blow making her change back into her original form, and she looked up at him, horror in her eyes.  
  
"Control yourself." he said.  
  
"But...But Godo...and all the others..." Yuffie began.  
  
Reno helped her up and then looked her straight into the eye. "Believe me. It's not worth it." he said.  
  
Tears fell from her eyes when the rumble shook the earth as its foot landed, crumpling the large pagoda. She tried to hold back sobs, and suceeded, but that didn't help her internaly.  
  
"PATHETIC HUMANS." Emerald WEAPON said, its mere voice loud enough to make them stumble.  
  
"What do you want, Emerald?" Sephiroth asked, bringing his sword up to stabalize himself.  
  
Aeris stepped forward to gain attention. "We're just trying to save the planet!" she tried to reason with it. "Aren't you on our side?" Her eyes shown sad, but she didn't cry, as if she was talking to a little kid about the death of a family member.  
  
Emerald looked down at her, but she didn't flinch. "YOU ARE JUST MAKING THINGS WORSE." it stated menacingly.  
  
"How?!" Zack demanded, bringing his sword up for defense against the blow of its voice.  
  
"BEACAUSE OF YOU HUMANS AND YOUR MISTAKES YOU HAVE DRAWN JENOVA CLOSER TO THIS PLANET." Its large, red eyes glowed harder. "HER POWER IS ALMOST FULL."  
  
Vincent, who wasn't more than twenty yards away from WEAPON looked up at it, not showing one little drop of fear. "But we'll destroy Jenova if you let us!" he said.  
  
Emerald picked up a foot and stomped it down in rage, shaking the earth more than ever. Everyone fell down from the shock, except for Vincent, who still stood, looking up at the WEAPON through his timid, red eyes. "YOU WILL MAKE IT WORSE!!!!" it yelled out furiously, and fired a large water beam down below in Vincent's direction.  
  
He quickly transformed into the Chaos beast, taking less time then usual, and quickly dodged the incoming beam, countering with his own flaming skull attack. Being as big as it was, Emerald couldn't dodge, and was hit. But it didn't leave a scratch.  
  
"Oh, so he gets to transform and I don't?!" Yuffie demanded.  
  
"At least he knows what he's doing!" Reno protested.  
  
"ATTACK!!!" Cloud yelled out in order, and at that, everyone grabbed their weapons and ran for Emerald WEAPON. It fired multiple water beams, aiming for all of them, but they all quickly dodged, or were immune to it, and quickly launched attacks of their own.  
  
Cloud jumped up, followed by Zack, and slashed Emerald in the face, along with Zack as a final blow. They landed on the ground next to each other, and Sephiroth ran up to their side.  
  
"Let's combine our attacks, maybe then we could hit it harder." he suggested. Cloud and Zack nodded in reply, and they all jumped back up to the WEAPON's eye level. Cloud slashed down on it plainly, followed by Zack who took two swipes at each of its eyes. Then Sephiroth came in for the final blow, slashing down at Emerald's armor covering its stomache. His long, six foot sword gave him the advantage, and split the armor in half and breaking it off. It burst into peices and flew in every direction, and they all had to duck in order to not get hit.  
  
"Geeze, now I know why they say he's got the strongest sword." Tifa thought to herself out loud.  
  
They all went in for another round of attacks when Aeris dropped to her knees, cupping her hands in a prayer. Nobody noticed, as was expected, when a small, yellow circle lighted up around her, millions of designs and cetra letters scribbled inside it.  
  
Tifa heard a soft mumble from behind her, and she turned around, wondering what it was. She saw Aeris sitting there, praying. She listened carefully, trying to pick up the words she was reciting.  
  
"Oh planet, hear my cry..." she pleaded.  
  
Tifa was about to walk over and protect her from the incoming blows from WEAPON when she was hit herself, and she was sent flying five feet behind her. She was now just sitting a couple inches away from Aeris. Quickly, she got up and casted Barrier on both of them, shielding most of the attacks from Emerald.  
  
"Please aid us in our quest. Please give me your strength..."  
  
Tifa looked over helplessly at Aeris. There was nothing that she could do to help but shield her. She casted Haste on herself and used all of the support magic she could.  
  
"Aid us in helping you..."  
  
  
Karasu looked around. He was in a very deep forest. There was green everywhere he looked. Frogs and insects and birds chirped and croaked, and the sunlight that was shining through from the canopy was bright enough to make you squint. It was somewhat damp, and there were a lot of different flowers and tropical trees everywhere. A small, clear water stream ran throughout the forest, and Karasu had been following it for some time, knowing it would lead the way out. He smiled to himself as another frog hopped in front of him. This place was more like a jungle then a forest.  
  
He kneeled down to the small frog and picked it up. It looked up at him with huge, yellow eyes and croaked. He snickered and it jumped off, hopping into the stream. Karasu stood back up and began his journey again. He had to find the damn Shinra, he knew it wasn't Rufus' doing. And besides, if he wanted to kill him, now would be the perfect time. He had a fault and he could use it to his own advantages.  
  
There were the sounds of leaves behind crunched in front of him, past some bushes. He looked up and his eyes widened in curiosity. Karasu creeped over to them and peeked out the other side. There was the one person he was looking for! Rufus. He was on his knees, sobbing. Karasu dared not to interupt. He wanted to know what the deal was, first. It was rare to see a man with his kind of ego cry.  
  
"Damnit..." Rufus swore, wiping the tears from his eyes. He slowly got up, his body seeming frail and weak, and he looked up at the sky above. "I'm never going to get there in time... And she's with them, too...."  
  
"Who is?" Karasu asked, stepping out from his hiding place.  
  
Rufus practically jumped. "I..." he started, then stood up straight. "I'm not telling!"  
  
"So, if that's not you over in Midgar...then..." Karasu began.  
  
"Who is it?" Rufus finished. Karasu glared at him. "Who do you think it is?" he asked.  
  
"...It's Jenova, isn't it?" Karasu asked. Rufus nodded back, his eyes filled with rage and hatred for the name he just spoke. "Wait....how...how did you escape?" he asked. "And how did you get here with such haste?!"  
  
"I hitched a ride on a Shinra helicopter to Gongaga." Rufus said, rubbing his forhead.  
  
Karasu came closer and examined the bump on his forhead. "How did you get this?" he asked.  
  
"Stupidity and a rope." Rufus simply answered, turning around and he started walking the way Karasu had been walking from. "Now, we need to get to Wutai." he said, looking over his shoulder to Karasu. He nodded and followed Rufus silently. "And quick..." he finished.  
  
They had been walking for some time, about twenty minutes when Karasu finally spoke up. "Really, in all seriousness, who were you talking about?" he asked.  
  
"I'm not telling." Rufus said simply, trying to hold back a blush.  
  
Karasu snickered. "Awww, who does lil' Rufy have a crush on?" he asked with an evil grin.  
  
Rufus swirled around, his trenchcoat lifting off the ground for a brief few seconds. "What was that you just said?!" he demanded, fire in his eyes. Karasu backed up a step. "Well?" Rufus asked again, impatiently. "Say that louder so I can hear it....little boy."  
  
Karasu's eyes widened in anger. "LITTLE?! What the hell!!!" he then lunged at Rufus. "I'll kill you here and now, Shinra!" he declared.  
  
Rufus rolled out of the way, pulling his shotgun out of a pocket in his trenchcoat, kneeling on the ground and locked on to Karasu in one swift movement. "Look who's got who." he said, his finger hovering of the trigger.  
  
Karasu stopped dead in his tracks, his sword drawn and they remained in their positions for a few moments, glaring at each other.  
  
Then, out from the branches above, came two, lizard like beasts. The landed right in front of Rufus and leaped at Karasu. Rufus then fired the gun and it hit one of the monsters. It had little effect, the scales on its skin acting like strong armor.  
  
"And here I thought this was a peaceful place!" Karasu muttered and slashed his sword at one of the lizards. It jumped out of the way and shot a beam of water at him from its mouth. Karasu was blown into a nearby tree hard. His head swam, and he tried desperately to function but his muscles wouldn't respond, and then he saw nothing but blackness, and lost consiousness.  
  
Meanwhile, Rufus was left fighting the two lizards. He heard Karasu cry out and he turned to see him fall to the ground in front of a nearby tree. "Damnit!" he swore to himself and shot another lizard. He looked back at Karasu again and put his gun away. He ran up to him and pulled the sword by the hilt out from his limp hands. He picked it up and took a swing at one of the lizards. It merely jumped out of the way again.  
  
"Grrr...DAMN THING!!!!" Rufus yelled in rage and the sword clattered to the ground. He picked Karasu's limp body up and slung him over his shoulder quickly, grabbed the sword and turned and took a chance glimpse at the lizards. They were poised and ready to strike. Then, at the last moment, Rufus turned heel and ran for his life. Just as he did, the trees that he was standing by just a moment ago burst and toppled over. "Shit!!!" he cursed and ran out of the way as they fell to the ground. He jumped over one of the trunks and ran down the river side, the two lizards not far behind.  
  
"Wh...wha....?" He heard Karasu mutter.  
  
"Just shut up and stay still, I'm saving both of our asses and I don't have enough time to wait for you to get up!!!" Rufus hissed. Karasu didn't reply.  
  
Then the rock next to his feet burst open and Rufus turned to look at it for a brief second just to see water where it was once before. He turned to the lizards again and saw they were right behind him.  
  
He was surprised when Karasu struggled to get away. He finally succeeded and pushed himself off of Rufus' shoulders and to the ground. Rufus turned to see the lizards pounce on him and they started pecking at him with their snouts.  
  
"Aaaaaaa.....AAAAHHHHH!!!!" Karasu screamed in pain.  
  
"Karasu!" Rufus gasped and brought his gun and shot one of the lizards in the back. There was a loud, cracking noise and it screamed in pain. The other lizard looked up at him, its blood red eyes glinting timidly. Rufus pulled the trigger again and it screamed out. Then, both of the lizards skittered off, back into the forest.  
  
Rufus looked down at Karasu and his eyebrows shot up in shock. There were slits all over his face, his arms, and holes in his cloak with blood seeping out from every mark. He kneeled down to the wutain prince, examining all the marks. "You gunna be all right?" he asked.  
  
"I...I think so...ow..." Karasu groaned and sat up with great difficulty. "My body....everything hurts..." he whined.  
  
Rufus smirked. "It'll stop hurting over time." he reassured. Karasu nodded.  
  
They looked at each other for a brief moment. Then Karasu finally spoke up. "Who's the girl?" he asked bravely.  
  
"I said I'm not--" Rufus began.  
  
"Oooh, it's the flower girl you were eyeing earlier, ain't it?" Karasu asked, raising an eyebrow.  
  
Rufus' own eyebrows shot up. "N...no!" he countered.  
  
"Suuuurrreee....." Karasu laughed.  
  
"I'm going to kill you if you say that in front of the others---!!!" Rufus stopped at the sound of a faint beeping at his right hip. He picked up his newly regained PHS and turned it on, putting the volume at max and turning the speakerphone off. He and Karasu both listened in...  
  
  
"Uh! I think the ray's about ready, sir!" Palmer said, positioned in a helicopter over the Sister Ray, which was now positioned towards the Wutain continent.  
  
"You think?" Jenova asked, still disguised as Rufus, from his office at the top of the tower. "I want a straight answer from you now, fool!"  
  
"Yessir!" Palmer replied. "The ray's ready!"  
  
"Good."  
  
"But, sir?" Scarlett, who was with Heideggar in a helicopter positioned over Wutai, questioned. "Is it the best idea?"  
  
"Are you doubting me?" Jenova asked menacingly. There was no reply. She smirked to herself, evil of course, and pointed at the ray. "Fire."  
  
"But sir!" Heideggar protested.  
  
"FIRE THE DAMN RAY ALREADY!!!!" Jenova yelled through the PHS.  
  
"Sir!" Heideggar tried again.  
  
Jenova was furiated now, and clenched her fists in rage. "What?!" she asked, about to throw the phone down and fire the ray herself.  
  
"Sir, if we do that then the whole continent will blow up!" Heideggar stated.  
  
"Is there a problem with that?" Jenova asked, quirking an eyebrow.  
  
"Yes!" Scarlet joined in. "Everyone will die!"  
  
Jenova's eyebrow twitched. "Is there a problem with that ???"  
  
"Well...." Palmer started, but was cut off.  
  
"WELL WHAT?! JUST FIRE THE DAMN THING!!!!" Jenova yelled, then said in a calm, irritated voice filled with content, "Or I will do it myself."  
  
There was no answer for a while. Then there was a rustle from Scarlett and Heideggar's copter. "Okay." they both agreed.  
  
"Uh-huh..." Palmer added.  
  
"Good..." Jenova said. "Now, as I was saying before..." she trailed off...  
  
  
"Shit...." Rufus cursed to himself, turning off the PHS and bolted for the exit. Karasu was already after him. "Shit shit shit shit..." he cursed over and over.  
  
Karasu gained speed and came up to his side, glaring at him. "Didn't you know about this, you pathetic slob?!" he demanded.  
  
Rufus didn't even look at him. "No." he simply replied.  
  
"Dumbass.." Karasu muttered. Rufus didn't hear him, and they then bursted out of the forest, running along the dead plains of Cosmo Canyon, ignoring the burning sensation in their feet.  
  
A bead of sweat ran down Rufus' forehead. God knew what would happen if they were to not get there in time to tell the others...  
  
  
The whole ground shook again. Almost the whole city was rubble now, and the only ones that were standing were AVALANCHE and the turks. They were tattered up pretty badly, and had tooken a lot of damage from Emerald's attacks. Cloud stood up and slashed it once more, but was swiped aside with its giant claws.  
  
"It's no use..." Sephiroth said. "Even without armor...." he looked up at Emerald. "...it's unstoppable, isn't it?" he asked the others.  
  
"I believe that is what to expect." Red said, comming up to Sephiroth's side. "If the planet wishes for the WEAPON to destroy us, then it will use all of its power to do so."  
  
Sephiroth's eyes widened. "You....you don't think..." he turned back to the others. "It's after me, isn't it?!" he asked.  
  
"Yes it is!!!" Yuffie screamed out, all of the sudden. "Why didn't you find that out before?! BAKA!!!" she clenched her fists in anger. "You've destroyed Wutai again!"  
  
No...this can't be....  
  
Sephiroth stood and stared at Yuffie, then at the others, and then glanced around at the shambles around them in horror. It seemed like such a good idea before, but now that he'd seen it again, he was starting to regret the first time.  
  
It wasn't my fault.... But even if it was, why should I care?!  
  
"I....." he paused, looking at everyone else.  
  
"It's not your fault!!!" Vincent said, glaring at Yuffie. "It's not only after you, don't listen to her."  
  
"But...hey..." Sephiroth stopped and turned around. The WEAPON was gone. Destroyed. It was now in a bloody heap on the ground. "What the?"  
  
Tifa glanced up. It really was gone. "But...how did it get killed so quickly?" she asked. "Did we do this?"  
  
"No..." a stangled voice from beside her said with great difficutly. Tifa glanced over and saw Cloud's form, trying to stand up. "We couldn't of done that..."  
  
Tifa crawled over to him and looked him straight in the eye. "Then what's going on?" she asked.  
  
"You guys!!!" they heard Red call from behind them. They all turned around to see him standing next to Aeris, who was still praying. She was now glowing a bluish color. Her hair was turning a cold, icy blue and her skin a pale, sea like green. Red was tensed up, making sure she was okay, but ready to attack if it wasn't really her.  
  
"Aeris!" Tifa yelled, and ran to her side. She stopped, though, when Aeris' eyes flashed open. They were icy green, her pupils not present at all. Tifa hesitated and stepped back a couple steps. "Wh... What are you...?!" she began, but Aeris' head snapped to the right and she gazed at a nearby church.  
  
"I must go there." she said plainly. Her voice sounded very far away, like she was talking to someone else who wasn't there. She silently started to step towards the church, in a daze.  
  
"What's wrong with her?!" Barret asked.  
  
"It's gotta be Jenova!" Zack muttered, and brought his sword up.  
  
"But Jenova's got Rufus, not Aeris!" Elena said. "There's something else going on!"  
  
Then a smooth, mako generated beam was seen in the sky, comming from the direction of Midgar. And it was heading right at them.  
  
"It's not Jenova!" Cloud exclaimed. "It's not Sephiroth! Those two options are completely gone... There's only one more possibility..." he trailed off, and looked over to the others.  
  
"What do you mean by that, spike?" Cid asked.  
  
"We never did see her really summon holy." Cloud began. "She was in the lifestream, remember?"  
  
"She was on the altar when she summoned holy, you fool!" Sephiroth objected. Then he stopped and took another glance at Aeris, who was halfway to the church by now. "But.... What if instead, since I'm not fused with Jenova to block her spell anymore..." he turned to Cloud. "Is it possible this is what happens to an ancient who summons Holy right away?!" he asked.  
  
Cloud nodded. "Exactly what I was thinking." Then they all heard a crash from Aeris' direction and turned to see what was going on.  
  
Aeris had encountered some rubble that was in her way. A small portion looked like it had been blasted off. She drew back her hand and flew it in the direction of the rumble, and it all crippled right in front of her. Stepping over it, she began her way back towards the church.  
  
"What the hell....OH SHIT!!!!!" Cid cursed, looking wide eyed at the sky.  
  
They all turned their heads to look up too. They saw the mako beam. And it was almost about to hit, around thirty hundred yards from them.  
  
"That's it!" Yuffie said. "I'm not taking any more of this!!!!!" she crouched down slightly, and her wings ripped out from her back.  
  
"Wait!!!" Reno tried, but Yuffie was allready out of his reach.  
  
"She's insane..." Reeve yelled. "GET BACK HERE!!!!"  
  
Reno kicked the ground in rage, and then turned to them all, his cold glare looking even more menacingly because of the scars under his eyes, which made him look tough and bitter. The mako glew hard and cold, matching his glare and adding more effect to it. "There's no use stopping her. She won't stop if it were for the world." he said calmly, but filled with anger.  
  
"Wh...What do you mean?" Rude asked, his eyebrows raising from behind his sunglasses.  
  
He turned and looked up at Yuffie, who was almost at the blast. "That's not Yuffie." he replied.  
  
Meanwhile, up in the air, Yuffie brought her hand back and powered up her own energy, resorting from taking some of the planets energy, knowing all too well that she had to leave some for it to be saved by somebody down there. But she couldn't figure out who. Everything was all fuzzy up in her head, and it felt as if she had just came back into reality just a few seconds ago when she was in the air. But she kept powering up, the little voice in her head telling her it had to be done. It was an instinct, she was sure of it. And it was so strong she couldn't reason with it.  
  
You will not destroy this town. I will never let you!!!  
  
Whatever the voice was, it was getting louder and louder every second. And the mako beam, the path of her destruction if she were to mess up, was getting closer and closer more rapidly then ever. She started to feel dizzy, and with that she brought her hand forward in her last bit of effort to direct it away from the blast. Then, her sense of reality came more clearer then ever.  
  
If I don't do this right then everything dear to me will perish!  
  
"YUFFIE!!!!!" she heard a voice call from below, but didn't pay any attention to it. She suddenly felt a large preassure against her, too quickly that she couldn't shield herself, and she was sent flying through the air. Before she knew it air was rushing past her and she splashed into the sea, flying in a diagonal line towards the earth.  
  
What's going on?  
  
  
"Sir! We got the first blast in, but it's been redirected by a strange source of energy!" Heideggar said through the phone in his chopper.  
  
"DAMN THAT OMNI!" Jenova cried, bringing down her fists onto the desk. "FIRE IT AGAIN!" she commanded, not able to control her hatred.  
  
"But, uh, sir!" Palmer spoke. "It will take it time to..."  
  
"Just fire it or I will kill you." a deathly voice came from the other end.  
  
"Pr...president?" Heideggar, Scarlet, and Palmer questioned.  
  
"It's not president.... Your president's dead, sweeties." Jenova managed to say through clenched teeth, and meanwhile, back in Rufus' office, she had tooken her original form back, her tentacles wrapping around the gadgets over by the computer that was controlling the Sister Ray in the event that the main controllers were offline. "Or as good as dead, I suppose." she pressed in the code with a couple of her more nimble tentacles. "You can't stop me now."  
  
"You bitch..." Scarlet gasped. "You're.....Who are you?!"  
  
"Jenova." she replied, and then the ray started to power up again for another blast...  
  
  
A small speedboat came up to the shore of the long continent, and it held three occupants. They were Karasu, Rufus, and some other guy. He was afisherman, in his early fourties, dressed in tan pants, pale green shirt, tan sleeveless sweatshirt, clunky, muddy boots and a hat with various hooks and other stuff to decorate a fishing hat with. His hair was short, but of it that you could see was black and he wore dark blue sunglasses.  
  
"Well, then." The man said, stopping it and tieing a rope that connected the boat to a nearby boulder. "I don't know what yer hurry is all about. It's a perfect day and all to relax and enjoy the view."  
  
Karasu and Rufus jumped out of the boat quickly, turned to look at the man and bid thanks with nods of their heads, and turned back to run towards the city up north.  
  
"H..hey!!" the man began, but they were allready out of earshot.  
  
"That guy was cool. I hope we meet him again." Karasu said. He looked over at Rufus, who was running beside him. "What was his name again, anyway?"  
  
"I think he said it was Stellar." he replied, not turning to look at him. They put on more speed as they ran up one last hill, and when they reached the top, their eyes widened.  
  
"Are we too late?!" Karasu gasped.  
  
"No, what was WEAPON's doing!" Rufus said. He turned to Karasu. "There's still enough time, common!" he went to grab Karasu's arm when there was an explosion over the city. They both turned to look just in time to see a slight streak of light head for the sea and there was a big splash when it impacted into the water.  
  
They both stared dumbly at the scene for the moment.  
  
"Was that a ray blast?" Rufus asked himself.  
  
"Well, whatever it was it's not good!" Karasu said, and got himself out of Rufus' grip, running down the hill himself. Rufus followed him without hesitation and they made their way throught he rubble quicker then they expected. They turned one last coner and ran into AVALANCHE and the others.  
  
"What's going on?!" Rufus demanded.  
  
They all turned to see them, just as surprised as they were.  
  
"The hell was that?" Karasu asked.  
  
Sephiroth shook his head solemnly. "That was your sister." he replied, no sense of emotion in his words whatsoever.  
  
Karasu froze in his place.  
  
Meanwhile, Rufus turned and looked around. "Where's Aeris?" he asked.  
  
"In the church." Tifa replied, pointing over to it.  
  
The crackling static was heard from Rufus' hip, and they all looked down as his PHS.  
  
"You bitch..." they heard Scarlet's voice. "You're...who are you?!"  
  
Cloud's eyes widened at Jenova's reply.  
  
"Argh! Now that damn cetra is trying to stop me!" she exclaimed from the other end of the line, rustling and beeping heard as she fidgeted with the controls to the computer.  
  
"Don't you dare lay a finger on her!" Heideggar yelled. "I know she's the enemy, but aiming an entrie ray blast at her is waste!"  
  
There was no reply for a couple moments, just sounds of rustling. Palmer was about to speak, but his self consious told him not to. Jenova finally answered, in a cold and sly voice, "You can't stop me..... No one can stop me!!!!" she yelled the last phrase, letting the energy from the ray go and the others could already hear it comming their way.  
  
"Holy.... That's one loud beam..." Barret began, a bit hesitent.  
  
Vincent looked around, his blood red eyes widening. "It's got tremendous amount of energy." he stated. "More then what's usually allowed to be controlled."  
  
The wave of mako energy could be seen from the horizon.  
  
Rufus bolted past Karasu, who was still in shock, and headed for the church. Karasu blinked, and then turned to see Rufus make his way through the door. "DON'T!!!" he yelled.  
  
The blast was much faster this time. It was almost there....  
  
Rufus ripped the door open and ran over to Aeris, who had passed out on the floor, already had callen the ancient Holy spell. He picked her up and ran for the door, only to see light. But then, a large barrier fought against it, and Rufus stepped out, Aeris in his arms, and saw Karasu with his hands up, using all the strength he could. The barrier was already starting to shatter, little cracks of the energy pouring in, making the barrier split in two. Rufus came up and brought out his barrier materia as well, casting a new barrier.  
  
Karasu looked over to him. "What are you doing?!" he exclaimed.  
  
Rufus turned to look at Karasu, a pained expression on his face. "Get Aeris out of here... I'll sustain the barrier for just a little longer..."  
  
"You can't do that!" Karasu objected, stepping forward. "You'll die!"  
  
"I don't care." he responded. "All that matters is if you two get out of here. Now." he ended the last part of the sentence as if it were a demand, and not a request.  
  
Karasu hesitated, and then, nodded. He picked up Aeris' limp body and ran out of the way, just as Rufus' own barrier was about to give away.  
  
He reached the others and set Aeris down, and then turned to look. It was too late. The barrier shattered and the church was blown into mere splinters, and the blast kept going until it dissappeared off into the horizon, and out into space.  
  
"RUFUS!!!!" Karasu cried and stood up, stumbling, and ran for the church. It was hard making his way through the rubble that the blast had made, but determination kept him going. No one tried to stop him, but he didn't care. He didn't know why he was doing it, but it seemed to him like it was the right thing to do.  
  
He finally reached the church, or what had been, and looked around frantically for the orange haired president. He couldn't find anything! The ground rushed up at him and he changed into his gimme cat form, and continued his search. Then, out of the rubble, he saw a tattered, beat up hand. Quickly changing back to human, he pulled up the body, only to reveal the man he was looking for.  
  
"Rufus..." he began shakily after he had set his body on the ground. There was a big gash in his stomache, and he only had one arm, the other one ripped off at his shoulder from the impact of the blast. His shirt had been discarded completely, but his white, baggy pants remained, torn in countless places.  
  
He slowly opened an eye bravely and looked up at him. "Karasu..." he coughed. "I guess... Jenova couldn't save me that time, huh?" he asked.   
  
Karasu didn't reply. He just looked down at Rufus. His mind was swarming with questions to ask him, sure, but nothing made it out of his mouth. He was too shocked. First his sister, and now his best friend!  
  
Wait...friend...?  
  
Rufus smirked, or at least tried to, and coughed out a laugh at him. "Oh well... At least... Holy will come after all..." he gasped as another wave of pain streaked over him.  
  
I guess... Since we always fought... We knew each other well. We knew just how the other would react after a while... And used that to our advantages. I wished so much for him to die... And now I got my wish...  
  
A tear fell down from Karasu's face and dropped onto Rufus' cheek.  
  
He's crying. God damn, why do I have to see him cry? Didn't he want me to die?  
  
His eyes widened when, all of the sudden, Karasu lowered his head and pressed his lips against his. He was further suprised when he started to respond, hot tears comming out of his eyes and dripping down onto the ground below.  
  
Karasu pulled away softly, and looked at Rufus, who returned his gaze.  
  
"Kill me. Now." Rufus struggled to say.  
  
Karasu's eyebrows rose quickly in shock. "Wha...what?" he asked.  
  
Rufus glared at him. "Just do it. You wanted to do it anyway, didn't you?" he asked. "And besides..." he added, "I'd rather just have you kill me then my own weapon... It's too much of an embarrassment." he smirked up at him again, warmly, "You'd at least get to do what you wanted to do in the first place."  
  
The wutain above him hesitated, but then nodded. "As you wish." he replied, bringing up his sword, and standing up in front of him. The moment his sword hovered over Rufus' body, they made one last glance at each other, and they didn't have to say anything. They knew what the other was thinking. This was the only thing they could do. They couldn't let anyone else know about them.  
  
Just as Karasu's sword came down, AVALANCHE and the others had ran up to him, and shouted for him to stop, but he just ignored them and brought it down with great relieft, and watched in horror as Rufus' life energy wisped out of his body and up. His soul circled around him once, and as he did they said their farewells.  
  
Thanks, birdie.  
  
Any time, prez.  
  
And with that, his energy returned to the planet below, and all was quiet in the moment that the Shinra Empire had finally fallen...  
  
~~~~  
  
Chuu:Sorry it's been so long, people! My computer was temporarily swarming with viruses but now they're all cleared out and I can go back to making this story (and some others I might add ^^) For any of you who cared, my website will be back up near the beginning of Febuary, like in a week or so (maybe even sooner...or later xX;;) I'm getting a domain to make it easier for mahself... I'm fed up with geocities xx; Oh, and that up there? That's probably going to be the only yaoi scene in the story. Sorry non yaoi fans, but I had to do it vv; Tell me what you think, ppl! ~Chuu 


	11. Things Aren't What They Used To Be

A word from Chuu-  
Seeing as times have changed, I am not as into this story, Courage, Bravery, and Lost as I was a year ago when I first started it. I am so sorry for those of you who actually read and reviewed it, no matter how few you were. If we're lucky, though, I can maybe get one of my diehard friends to finish it, or maybe one of you people out there would want to? I had so much more I wanted to put into this story, but instead I'm planning on writing my own, original fiction. And I'm serious when I say this, I'm aiming to make it even longer then CBL and also I'm going to try and sell it. That doesn't mean my other fanfics are out of it, just this one. I may be doing a few side stories or continue it in the future, who knows? So, for your last enjoyments, here is the last chapter I am writing as of this moment of CBL...  
  
~~~~  
Chapter Eleven  
~~~~  
  
"Karasu! What the hell are you doing?!" Zack exclaimed.  
  
Karasu looked over to him without concern. "It had to be done." he calmly stated, trying to keep the pain from flowing out of his eyes. "He wanted me to." He drew his sword out of Rufus' limp body, but carefully, as if he didn't want to hurt him even further.  
  
"But.....but how could you do that?" Cloud asked. "Are you some kind of monster?!"  
  
Karasu's eyebrows twitched.  
  
"We saw you two.... You don't have to hide it!" Barret said. "If that's why he wanted to be killed I don't think ya shoulda don' it!" he paused and glared at him. "Some friend you are... I'd hate to be yours." he said the last statment with hatred.  
  
Karasu's eyes started to turn yellow.  
  
"Barret stop!" Tifa said. "He's going to omnichange if you don't... And besides, he--"  
  
"Probably had a reason." Barret finished for her. Tifa looked at him critically. "God damnit, Teef, not everyone in this world is good!" Tifa, having had enough of him, drew back one of her fists and gave him her best blow to his gut. Though as hard packed as his stomache was, he let out a small "Oof!" before collapsing to his knees, holding his midsection painfully.  
  
Sis... Not again...  
  
One tear escaped from his eye and he quickly wiped it away before anyone noticed. They turned back into normal, human eyes, and he turned the other direction. "We have to find Jenova." he stated, back in his far off daze, "It's the only way to end this."  
  
"You're right." Reeve said. He walked up to Karasu and put a hand on his shoulder, and whispered into his ear so that nobody else could hear him, "Toughen up, you gotta avenge your sister."  
  
Karasu gave him a nod in affirmation, but the faraway look still did not cease. Reeve gave him a worried glance, then shook his head and walked away.  
  
"Think....yes, we need to think." Cloud advised.  
  
"Think?" Red asked. "Where ever did you get the idea?"  
  
Cloud scratched the back of his head. "Isn't that what Reeve went to do?" he asked.  
  
"Ah, hell, let's not think for once!" Barret complained, still in shock from Tifa's punch.  
  
"Yeah, this fuckin sucks..." Cid trailed off when Cloud looked daggers at him.  
  
Cloud's mako eyes scanned the horizon around them, ignoring the destroyed city around them, and trying to figure out where Jenova could be. "She could be back at Shinra, but of course, someone with a brain like her's would never be that dumb..." he paused, and mumbled, "...but we also can't think of her to be too bright either..."  
  
There was a soft murmur in the background, and yet as quiet as it was, everyone turned to see where the sound was comming from. In the not too far distance, they could make out a single Shinra made helicopter, heading their way.  
  
Vincent stepped forward and examined it more carefully. "Scarlet and Heideggar." he confirmed.  
  
The helicopter hovered over them for a brief moment, and then swiftly made its way towards the ground, but steadily at the same time so they wouldn't hit any one who happened to be in the way. There was a slight pause after they landed, and then Scarlet and Heideggar hopped out and landed on the dusty ground.  
  
"Ugh!" Scarlet complained, looking at her shoes. "This place if filthy!"  
  
"What dya expect?" Cid sneered. "You did declare war after all, slut."  
  
Scarlet glared at him and brought up her middle finger. Cid just snickered, having to cover his face to keep from being slapped.  
  
"What are you doing here?" Sephiroth asked.  
  
Heideggar turned to him, and took a great amount of self control to look the great warrior in the eye. But he didn't just see him as a warrior, but as a murderer too. And the fact that the very same sword that killed millions was in his hand right now was adding an equal challange to himself mentally. Finally gaining enough composure, he sighed in relief at the fact that his head wasn't rolling across the ground at that very moment. "W...we need your help." he said.  
  
Cloud didn't move. "Is it Jenova?" he asked.  
  
Heideggar and Scarlet nodded. "Yes." they both answered in unison.  
  
"Where is she?!" Reno demanded, bringing his night stick up menacingly.  
  
Heideggar backed up slightly. "Uh..uhm..." he began, but Reno had other plans. In two long steps he cleared the distance between them and brought his nightstick around Heideggar's neck in a strong chokehold. "Wha...what..." he trailed off when Reno's finger hovered over the button.  
  
"You tell me where the hell she is now..." he said through gritted teeth, "...or I'll barbeque your ass like a KFC Chicken wing..." he brought the nightstick closer to to him, gagging Heideggar even more. The others stirred, ready to strike at Reno, but he just glared at him.  
  
"O...Augh...Oh...okay..." Heideggar gasped. Reno let him go and he stumbled to regain his balance with a slight grunt, then straightened out his collar, looked at Reno fearfully, and answered, "We know that she's heading for Junon."  
  
"How?" Reno hissed.  
  
Scarlet poked him in the back of the shoulderblades, causing Reno to swirl around to confront her furiously. "She's heading for the nearest space company, and since the old shit rocketed off into space, another place has opened up in Junon." Scarlet paused, looking to see if Reno was getting this so she wouldn't get her head bitten off, "She's planning on going to the moon."  
  
There was silence.  
  
"Why the moon?" Barret asked, acting as if it was the dumbest thing in the world.  
  
Scarlet shrugged. "Hell if I knew."  
  
Red's tail flipped from side to side, the flames on the end burning timidly. "Interesting... Maybe we should take note of this?" he said, looking up at the moon, which was faded in the particulary bright sunlight.  
  
Rude folded his arms. "Let's go....." he suggested.  
  
They all turned to him questionably.  
  
"Where to?" Cloud asked.  
  
Sephiroth smirked and snickered. "To Junon, where else?" he confirmed, and walked back towards the direction of the highwind, Zack following not far behind, with an unconsious Aeris in his arms, and they were followed by the others shortly. Scarlet and Heideggar bid their goodbyes and climbed back into their helicopter, and were gone before they could get out of the ruins.  
  
Zack looked down at Aeris. The girl looked so peaceful when she was asleep. She looked even more beautiful when she was asleep, because now that sad, sad look that she always had in her eyes, which had doubled after she was revived, was gone. All that she was missing was a smile.  
  
And then one of her emerald eyes opened warily. "Wh...where am...I?" she asked no on in particular, looking around, but only seeing Zack.  
  
"You're here, with us." he replied.  
  
Aeris' eyes widened in shock. "How....How did I live?" she asked, astonished. "I was surely done for, I passed out before I could escape!"  
  
Zack smirked to himself, and to Aeris too, just to comfort her. "Don't worry. A man who really cared for you saved you. And there's no more discussion." he added the last part when she gave him a look that usually brought more questions.  
  
Karasu, not too far away, forced himself not to scream out the words, "Cared?! HE LOVED YOU FOR CHRISSAKES!!".  
  
And he didn't love me...  
  
Another tear escaped through the corner of his eyes, and he dared to let it touch the ground. He'd kill himself before he let anyone know his feelings. Only one other person knew...  
  
He glanced about. He was nowhere to be seen. "You guys?" he asked. Their heads looked in his direction curiosly. "Where's Reeve?"  
  
They looked around, and of course, the Shinra executive was gone.  
  
"I saw him leave before Scarlet and Heideggar came." Vincent said. "Maybe he was afraid of them for some reason."  
  
"Wouldn't blame him..." Cid muttered under his breath.  
  
Aeris' eyes glinted as she looked over at Karasu. His eyes were a little red, and he was pale. She could tell he had been crying. But why? He definently knew something she didn't know, and she didn't like it when secrets were kept from her. But aside from that, another nagging voice in the corning of her mind had disappeared. There was something missing about this all that confused her greatly, and it was as if it were quieter then usual...  
  
She looked up at the burning sun. It was unimaginably hot for a winter day. She reached one of her hands to wipe a bead of sweat from her brow and watched the sun carefully, but careful not to look directly at it. It started to get dark, and her eyes grew wider. Something was wrong. There were no clouds blocking the sun, and the temperature was changing like crazy. A huge gust of wind caught her by surprise, but Zack shielded her protectively. She noticed again that the nagging was gone. Some sort of nagging that was supposed to be there, but it wasn't. It was too quiet. Usually when something annoying like that happened, somone would complain. But no one did. It just didn't make any sense to her!  
  
Wait... No complaining?  
  
She bit her lower lip to keep herself from screaming out. But instead, she whispered, quivering from the cold and her own fear, "Wh..wh...where is ever...everyone...?"  
  
Barret looked at her over his shoulder, an eyebrow raised. "What dya mean?" he asked, sounding like he was afraid she had figured out something he'd rather her not.  
  
Aeris glared at him. "Where's Yuffie?!" she asked, getting right to the point. "Damnit, don't tell me she went and got herself killed!"  
  
Zack quickly covered her mouth and she looked up at him, wide eyed. He shook his head to the west inconspicuously, and Aeris looked. Reno was walking that way, in front of the group, and she noticed that his fists were clenched. She looked back to Zack, nodded, and kept quiet.  
  
Meanwhile, up ahead, Reno's mind was blank. He wasn't thinking about anything. Nothing. The only thing that was making him move was his own willpower for revenge.  
  
Must keep going... Must have revenge...  
  
  
Darkness...  
  
Water was everywhere. She could feel it. But she saw no light.  
  
The only thing she thought, though, was.....  
  
  
Tifa's ruby colored eyes blazed in the shadows of the warehouse as she looked back and forth from crate to crate, but still no sign of anything. No papers or documents like the others had suggested. All that she could find was dust. She stomped her foot on the ground impatiently, startling Cloud and Barret nearby. "Why the hell do we have to look around in this dump anyhow?!" she complained. "There's not going to be anything here, anyway!"  
  
"Who knows." Barret mused. "Mebbe Jenova's got some followers." he glanced at Tifa over his shoulder, where he was looking through some new looking papers, "And mebbe they got some of dem records here."  
  
Tifa sighed. "Good grief." she muttered. It still didn't make any sense as in to why they had to look here of all places. "I guess we're the ones stuck at the bottom this time, huh?"  
  
"Yer gettin' it now." Barret replied.  
  
They had all split up about an hour ago to look through Junon for any signs of Jenova. They knew they'd get more ground covered that way. Aeris, Zack, and Reeve all went to search through the stores for any information, or maybe a glimpse of Jenova themselves. Red, Cid, and Vincent had decided to go under cover and look around the streets for her. Elena, Rude, and a reluctant Karasu had gone and search for information in the libraries. Reno, on the other hand, had wandered off by himself, probably looking for some bar to get drunk at.  
  
A loud coughing was heard from the other side of the room. Tifa looked over at Cloud and walked over to him, who was kneeling down and looking at some papers. "Are you okay?" she asked.  
  
He looked up at her, his mako eyes acting like a light, and smiled warmly. "Yeah, I'm fine." he looked back down at the papers. "Just dust...." he trailed off as he went back to reading.  
  
She sighed and went back to where she was, and picked up some old, dusty papers she saw on the ground just moments before. She squinted her eyes to read it, but she just couldn't. It was as if it were all written in another language. After a great more deal of staring at it, she decided it really was in another language. The characters were too unique to english, and they were to abstract to be any Wutain's writings. "This must be pretty old..." she muttered to herself.  
  
"Like everything else here." Barret grumbled.  
  
"I can't even read this..." she said. Soft footsteps came closer, and she didn't bother to look. She knew who it was. Cloud gently took the papers from her hands, and looked at them carefully. His eyesbrows rose in surprise. "What is it?" Tifa asked curiously.  
  
He shook his head and then turned to her. "This..." he began, "...is the old style of the Wutain alphabet." he replied.  
  
Barret walked over to them, peering at the papers. "You mean you can read it?" he asked hopefully, but Cloud shook his head.  
  
"I can only tell this language is it." he replied. "This is what they used back in Mideval times. They changed the writings afterwords because it didn't explain a lot of thoughts and ideas that well. But there is some people who still know it."  
  
Tifa and Barret perked up at his last statement. "Really?" they both asked.  
  
Cloud nodded. "Karasu's our only hope, seeing as how Yuffie and Godo are gone now..." he trailed off, seeing the sorrowful look on Tifa's face. "But don't worry, we'll find him with no problem." he smiled at her. "We know where he is, remember? He's with Rude and Elena."  
  
Barret knocked some empty bullet shells from his gunarm and reloaded it. "Well, whutevah happens, it oughta happen soon cuz I dun know how much time we have." he stated.  
  
"You're right..." Cloud answered numbly.  
  
Meanwhile, Tifa was flipping through the papers herself, looking at all the little pictures scattered along the documents. They were all so detailed she had to stare at them at least three minutes each to figure out what was going on. After looking at each picture, she decided that they had to go together somehow. Knowing what they were, she tried putting a story together in her head. But it was very vauge, and didn't make much sense.  
  
But there's definently something here... I just have to figure it out.  
  
She filed her way back to the first page and tried to guess it again. But still, it didn't make any sense at all to her. 'More details... I need more details!' she thought to herself.  
  
After about another hour, Cloud walked over again and sat down beside her. She looked up at him, almost hopefully, but he shook his head. "Nope. Seems like you've found the most interesting this this far."  
  
"Yeah, and about these..." she handed the papers to him. "They make some sense, but they dont."  
  
"What do you mean?" Cloud asked.  
  
She shrugged. "I can tell what the pictures are of, and they all seem connected. I think they, whoever it was who wrote this, was trying to tell a story. But I can't seem to figure it out." she looked down at the ground solemnly.  
  
"Hmmm..." Cloud flipped through the papers, and then went over them again, taking a good, hard, long look at them all. After a few minutes he looked back up at her. She looked at him hopefully, and he smiled. "I think I have an idea of what it is." he said.  
  
"Really?" she asked. "And I spent a whole hour on it?!"  
  
He laughed. "All I have is a vauge idea. Okay, obviously there was an evil long ago..." he trailed off as Barret walked up to them.  
  
"Go on." he said. "Or do I hafta beat it out of you?"  
  
Cloud smirked and continued. "And anyways, it wasn't Jenova. It was before that. This evil tried to drain the whole planet of its lifestream and make itself a god..."  
  
Tifa interrupted him, "Just like Sephiroth?" she asked.  
  
Cloud nodded. "Yup. And I think that Jenova was trying to destroy Wutai as to make a hole in the earth so the lifestream would be vulnerable." he said.  
  
"But what about Mideel?" Barret asked.  
  
"The lifestream has been around there too long; It's created a barrier around itself so outsiders can't go in." Cloud replied. "Basically all it's just a pool."  
  
"That still doesn't help us." Tifa muttered.  
  
Cloud grinned triumphantly and stood up. "Of course it does! Can't you see?!" Barret and Tifa looked at him questionably. "This may be what Jenova's trying to do!!!"  
  
"And what the hell makes you think that?" Barret asks. "Just because somone did it before..." he trailed off at the looked of anger in Cloud's face. He walked up to Barret and stood right in front of him, and Barret could almost feel the burn of his glare.  
  
"I just know." he said calmly. Barret gulped, and then Cloud turned and walked away.  
  
"Where are you going?" Tifa asked cautiously.  
  
Cloud stopped and looked over his shoulder at them. "I'm going to go find the others. I know where Jenova is." he stated.  
  
"Why don't you tell us?" Tifa and Barret both asked in unison.  
  
Cloud shrugged and went back to walking. "You'll find out anyway." he replied. Tifa and Barret both shared confused expressions, and then followed him reluctantly.  
  
  
Where am I?  
  
She couldn't help but try to see through the blackness. She waved her arms out, but she felt nothing. Nothing, that is, except for distoriantation. It felt like her whole body was out of porportion. She nuzzled her head down to her hands, since she didn't trust her own body. She felt fur. And so did her hands, which were touching her face. But the most of all she felt wetness.   
  
I'm in the water!!!  
  
Pulling her arms backwards, she lifted herself up slightly. But then a sickening feeling waved itself over all of her nerves. Crushed in. That's how she felt. She shivered and dropped back to her former position. It was only a little bit longer. Only a little bit longer and she couldn't stand it no more. Clausterphobia inside her gut was growing slowly.  
  
I'm scared...  
  
  
A droplet of rain fell onto Aeris' nose, right next to her left eye. It was cold, but she ignored it. The rain was starting to get heavier and heavier, the skies paling, darkening. She sighed. It was also getting cold. She was surprised when an even darker shadow hung over her. Curiously, she looked up and saw Zack, gesturing his dark blue umbrella over her.  
  
Aeris smiled and nodded. "Thank you." she replied.  
  
Zack smiled back and pulled her closer, his arm draping around her shoulders. Aeris blushed crimson, but she smiled all the same, enjoying being so close to the man she loved. She cuddled closer to him, but no one paid any heed to them. They were just another lonely couple walking down the street.  
  
Meanwhile, Reeve was a couple paces behind them, distracted by his own thoughts. He counted the cracks in the sidewalk while absent mindedly thinking, no, wondering about what Jenova was going to do. But most importantly about where his young team mate, Karasu, was going to end up. And Reno, too. They looked madder then hell. Now, he knew that Karasu was just going to go through some internal pain, as bad as it was, but he still didn't match to the threat of a very, very pissed off and muderous Reno. He shuddered at the thought of his revenge.  
  
But what would Karasu do? Would he try to kill himself? He smirked to himself and shrugged the problem aside. He was with Elena and Rude. And he knew that if Rude didn't want Karasu to die right then and there, then he wouldn't. He snickered at the thought of the fate of any one who dared to double cross that man.  
  
Aeris looked over her shoulder at Reeve curiously. "Hey, you're going to get all wet, silly." she said. Reeve looked up at her, remarkably innocent for a man of his age, his eyes expressing his thoughts. "Don't look at me like that." Aeris interjected. "You're going to get a cold. The last think we need is an ill soldier."  
  
"Soldier?" Reeve asked, raising an eyebrow. "I'm not really cut out to fight, and you know it."  
  
Zack grinned at him and they waited until Reeve was under the slightly big umbrella, also. "Don't worry, you're still a soldier, no matter how you fight." Reeve looked at him questionably. "As long as you're fighting, you're a soldier to us." he finished.  
  
Reeve was left speechless, not knowing what to say. Aeris giggled, and they walked in silence, keeping a sharp eye out for any sign of Jenova.  
  
The trio noticed, most of all, that the crowd was getting thicker and thicker as they moved along. Reeve brought this up a couple of times, but the others just shrugged and they tredged on. He didn't like the look of this one bit. It was like the crowd was going in only one direction, distracted by something up ahead.  
  
"They're probably just going home." Aeris had answered dissmissively. It was a reasonable explenation. It was getting late, around five, and it was about the time when most people got off work, or, if they had night shifts, went to work.  
  
Zack noticed something all of the sudden. There was most definently a ruckus being stirred up ahead, and they could hear yelling from around the corner. Prepared for the worse, all three of them ran in unison to the end of the block and looked around the corner for themselves. Everyone in the crowd had suddenly stopped and they were looking around desperately, scared beyond belief.  
  
"Oh dear..." Aeris mumbled, bringing a hand up to her mouth. "What's going on?"  
  
Then, as if answering her question, a large, dragon head swept up from the crowd and up into the air, connected to a very long, snakelike neck. It opened its mouth and hissed, but by then almost everyone had ran away in fright. Zack tensed, drawing his sword. At his sides Aeris charged her staff and Reeve prepared his .08 mm gun.  
  
"The real question is..." Reeve began, "...Why the hell is there a dragon here in the city!!!"  
  
They all quickly jumped out of the way as a hunk of ice that had came from the dragon's mouth hit the cement sidewalk where they were a split second before, making a greatly sized hole.  
  
Aeris turned to Zack. "We need to get out of here!" she stated. "We can't fight this thing alone!"  
  
"We're going to have to." Zack replied, and ran at the dragon, blindly swinging his sword at it. A cracking noise was heard, and to their surprise, the dragon really was made out of ice! The cracks slowly grew to its arm as the dragon watched with little intrest. As soon as the arm crashed to the ground and shattered, it quickly grew a new one.  
  
Behind Zack, Aeris gasped. "How are we going to kill it?" she asked worridly.  
  
He shrugged his shoulders in reply. "Dunno."  
  
Aeris glared at him. "Oh come on! You've got to have SOME brilliant idea!" she stressed.  
  
"I have an idea." Reeve said, then in a rather sarcastic tone, "Why don't we... Oh, nevermind. I guess FIRE wouldn't work well against melting the ICE now huh? I don't think we can kill the thing my MELTING it..." he turned to Zack and Aeris and smirked. "Do you?"  
  
"Oh, cut the melodrama." Aeris said, raising her staff. It glew and she summoned Ifrit, the giant fire god. He appeared, spitted fire at the dragon, and then disappeared as quick as his entrance, leaving the dragon severely hurt, water dripping down from its neck. Its eyes widened and it screamed, frustrated and angry.  
  
"It's working!" Zack cried, and then slashed at the dragon once more, two of its arms severed off its shoulders quite easily. "Reeve!!! Use that materia you bought!" he ordered.  
  
"Yes sir." Reeve replied rather annoyed. He held up the green orb and concentrated. A large wave of fire lit up around and inside the dragon from the ground and it screamed in horror as it melted into a puddle. When the fire was gone, all that was left was its head.  
  
They all stepped back as its eyes opened, a yellow flare glowing within its pupils. "That's not good..." Aeris squeaked as it looked over to them.  
  
Suddenly, the head started to vibrate viloently, glowing in a strange, yellow aura. When the light disappeared, however, there stood three people.  
  
Reeve quirked an eyebrow. "Uh, what just happened?" he asked. Aeris and Zack just shrugged, about as clueless as he was. They started to walk over to the trio, and as they came closer, they saw that they were three girls dressed in the most weirest outfits. There was a tall one, about as tall as Sephiroth or Vincent, a short one, about as tall as Marlene or Shake, and one that was the exact height as Aeris. They all had shoulder length blonde hair, and very colorful clothing.  
  
The tall one spoke first. "We have come to tell you something very important, but I guess one of my sisters got a little mad." she bowed before them, followed by her sisters. "We are very, very sorry for your invonvienence." they all appologized in unison.  
  
Aeris blushed crimson. "I....It's okay!" she replied. "You don't have to be so polite! We're just normal, everyday people!"  
  
"But on the contrary," said the one that was her height. "You are a cetra. And a very intellegant cetra at that."  
  
Zack sighed in exasperation and stepped forward. "What is it that you want to tell us?" he asked, getting right to the point. "Who are you?"  
  
The shortest girl stepped forward and replied in a high pitched voice, "We are the Magus Sisters. My name is Lilly Magus," she pointed to the tallest one, "Her name is Claudia Magus..." and then she turned to the middle sized one, "And she is Dinah Magus."  
  
"Why did you attack us?" Reeve questioned.  
  
Dinah bowed her head. "I'm so sorry. I got a little mad and I used our powers for a bad reason..." she looked up at them. "Please forgive me."  
  
"Of course we will." Aeris replied. "Mistakes always happen." she smiled warmly at them. "What is this news that you've come to tell us?" she asked.  
  
Claudia cleared her throat. "What we have come to tell was quite a suprise for us, too." she stated, looking as sophisticated as she could. "What we discovered is that there is one other cetra on this planet," she looked at Aeris, "other than you."  
  
Aeris' eyes widened in shock. "What? Are you serious?" she questioned, her face brightening up, excited to hear the news. "Where are they? Are they on our side?"  
  
"Slow down, slow down." Lilly countered. "She is not any normal cetra, you know." she smiled comfortably at them. "But there is no meaning to be afraid of her. She was born from a materia." she walked around Aeris and plucked the white materia out from her bow, making it come undone and her hair fell down. "This materia to be exact!" she placed the materia in Aeris' hand.  
  
They were silent for a moment.  
  
Then Aeris finally looked up from the materia and at Lilly. "How is that possible?" she asked.  
  
Lilly shrugged. "You know as well as we do that Holy has a mind of its own. In fact, I think that is why your materia is not glowing any more." she pointed out.  
  
Aeris looked back down at it. Sure enough, the materia had lost its usual, soft glow. She quickly looked back up at Lilly. "You mean... The cetra is actually Holy...Itself?"  
  
Claudia nodded. "Well, at least..." she paused, "A part of Holy."  
  
"Like a subconsiousness..." Reeve mused.  
  
The three sisters nodded in agreement. "Something like that." she replied in unison.  
  
"Why did you want to tell us this?" Zack asked. "Usually we have to find out on our own."  
  
Lilly smiled. "Because we wanted the chance to give you a new materia, too!" she replied. Then, all three of the sisters disappeared, and in their place were three, small, red orbs. From the orb that appeared where she was standing a voice echoed out, "Just use them like regular summon materia and we will come to your aid!"  
  
"Combine all three of the materia and we will all combine our attacks and use our ultimate force!" Dinah's materia chirped. Then, all three of the materias stopped glowing and dropped to the ground with a thud.  
  
Aeris looked down at her materia again, solemnly.  
  
I wonder where this new cetra is...?  
  
  
"How did we get stuck here in the library?" Elena whined, looking through the computer's catalogue of newspapers boredly.  
  
She didn't get a reply from either of her companions.  
  
Elena ignored it and kept looking. But she couldn't ignore the fact that they were creeping her out by the second. Rude hardly spoke. And Karasu didn't feel like talking. Was she the only cheerful one around here?!  
  
Sighing, she continued, bored with all of the old, outdated headlines.  
  
WUTAIN AND MIDGARIAN PEACE TREATIE  
  
"Old..."  
  
ATTACK ON WUTAI SHAKES THE ENTIRE EMOTIONAL WORLD  
  
"....older..."  
  
WUTAI AND MIDGAR SEE THEIR DIFFERENCES  
  
"Good grief! The Wutain/Midgarian war wasn't that crucial, was it?!" she asked herself in exasperation, crossing her arms in disbelief. Then she stopped herself and looked out the corner of her eye and at Karasu, who, even though his expression hadn't changed one bit, had a sad touch to his eyes for just a split second. She tensed awkwardly. "I...I'm sorry..." she appologized.  
  
A long moment of silence followed, Elena feeling like a complete idiot, Rude feeling rather awkward, and Karasu feeling nothing at all. Except for remorse.  
  
"It was a very hard time." Rude finally said.  
  
Elena's head snapped to look at him, but he said no more. She sighed in disgust at their attitudes. "Why don't either of you help me?!" she asked.  
  
"You seem perfectly allright doing it on your own." Karasu replied, lighting a cigarette.   
  
This really suprised the young turk. Karasu was...smoking?! When did he ever pick up such a crazy idea like that?! But she knew better then to question him about it, knew better that if she did he would probably do something really bad. All wutains were like that. She had figured by now that they always held every emotion they could inside themselves, and when it was about to reach the point of no return, one little poke and they could explode. Literally.  
  
Rude, however, gave him an awkward glance. "I never knew you smoked." he commented.  
  
"Calms me down sometimes." Karasu replied with a hint of annoyance in his tone and then took in a long drag and let the smoke out slowly.  
  
Elena coughed when the smoke reached her and glared at him. "Do you mind?!" she managed to choke out between coughs. "I hate smoke!"  
  
Karasu's eyes darkened. "Well, seeing as you don't approve of my habbit and the fact that it's pointless for me to wait around here any longer, I'm going to go out and search in another library." he twirled around, reminded Elena of how Reno always did it, and headed out of the room and out of their sight, a thin cloud of smoke trailing behind him.  
  
A dead silence hung on both Elena and Rude for a short while. Durring which Elena decided to go back to work and look through more newspaper ads. She heard him walk up behind her, felt his gaze looking over her shoulder, but ignored it. She wasn't going to make any stupid moves in front of her superior, not even if ShinRa really was done for. There was just a little voice deep inside her head that kept nagging her about it. Telling her not to loose her cool. She sighed in bordome at all the headlines, not finding anything useful.  
  
"You know you're never going to find anything."  
  
She shuddered at his very words. He was being pratical! And actually stating his own opinion? This wasn't the same guy she had been working beside for the past year or so! He was different lately, more talkative. And this just proved it.  
  
Turning around the wheeled chair, she looked up at him critically. "You've changed." she stated matter of factly, looking him over as if they hadn't seen each other for years.  
  
"So have you." he shot back cooly.  
  
Her eyes widened. He really wanted to converse with her? And it wasn't serious at all...  
  
"How?" she asked. She wanted to know what he thought of her, and god damnit, this was probably the only chance she would ever really get.  
  
She could of sworn she saw a slight hint of a smile on his face for a brief second. "Well, for one, you're not really secret crushing as you used to be."  
  
This made her blush crimson. "Wh, what do you mean?" she asked, flustered.  
  
"You've been rather shy lately..." he observed, looking not the least phased from her blushing. "Is it because of all the recent happenings?"  
  
Elena, remembering what had happened earlier that day, sat in silence. Where did he go after that? They hadn't seen him ever since they all entered the city. They all thought he was just going to search by himself, but now she was having second thought about not following him.  
  
"You're worried about him, aren't you?"  
  
The sudden sound of his voice startled her and she nearly jumped out of her chair.  
  
Rude gave her a sympathetic smile. "I know, those two were getting real close..." he stepped up to the window of the library and looked out, as if hoping to see Reno right outside. "It pains me to think of what he will do now..."  
  
Elena looked up at him questionably, and stood up, walking over to his side. "What's he going to do?!" she asked, scared, "Is it really that bad?"  
  
He turned to look at her, but his sunglasses shielded her from seeing the concerned look that was drawn upon his features. "He's had a really hard past, as you and I could only imagine... Growing up on the slums..." he sighed. "We both lived above the plates, in wealthier families. Hell, he probably didn't even have a family to live with."  
  
Suprisingly, Elena suddenly reached up and snapped his sunglasses off strictly. He looked at her oddly, and she smiled at him. "I always knew you'd have wonderful eyes under those glasses of yours." she commented.  
  
Relieved, he did his damned best to smile back, the innocense in her amusing him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and looked up into his orange colored eyes, certain they weren't just colored contacts. Elena knew they were his real eyes, after all, with the sunglasses on, why would he need colored contacts?  
  
"Let's go look for him." she pleaded. "For Yuffie's sake. I doubt she'd want him to follow her to his death."  
  
Rude nodded in reply, but they gazed into each others eyes just for a little while longer. Then, almost slowly, she lifted herself up to him...  
  
  
It was dark in the part of Junon he was in. Very dark. Even though it was around six, and in a summer, it was pitch black. Ever since Midgar had been destroyed all the punks from beneath the plates had somehow all made their way over to Junon, and, of course, they all settled into the outskirts of the large city, creating the new slums of Junon.  
  
That's why he wanted to go here. Maybe he would feel like he was home again for once in a long, long while. Maybe he'd just forget everything else, get drunk and wake up the next morning without a care in the god damn world. Just like the old days.  
  
He sighed.  
  
Of course, then I'll eventually remember everything.  
  
He kicked the door open to one of the new bars and stalked in furiously, and up to the bar, sitting on a stool and asking for a drink. The bartender quickly got it, noticing the angry look on the crimson haired man's face. He grabbed it before it was even handed to him and chugged down half of its contents, slamming it down onto the counter.  
  
"You're a turk, aren't you?" somebody asked from behind him.  
  
Reno turned around and looked up at the man with a careless look. "So whaddya gunna do about it, punk?" he questioned, his eyes glaring fires at the man.  
  
He was about six feet and a half, taller than Reno was, and he wore a black leather jacket, pants, gloves with spikes on them, leather boots, a spiked choker, a black muscle shirt, and his hair was even more spiked then Reno's, and it was purple. He had a lip ring, a naval ring, and rings in places where Reno would of rather not. He quickly came forward and grabbed Reno by the shoulder, pulling him up and glaring back at him menacingly. "Yer gunna die, turk, for what you did to my brother." he stated.  
  
Holding back a snicker, Reno smirked. "Aw, is that all?" he drawled.  
  
"Fucking hell!" the man screamed and sent Reno flying across the room. He landed on one of the pool tables hard.  
  
When he had sat up and regained his self awareness, Reno just laughed. "Look who you're dealing with..." he started, and then reached beneath his suit and pulled out a pistol, aiming it at the guy's forehead. The man quickly turned to run, but Reno had already pulled the trigger. He shot three bullets into the man's head and laughed again when he fell to the floor. Everyone in the bar had scrambled out of his way when he started to walk out, and when the bartender was about ready to ask for his pay, Reno lifted his gun and shot his glass and what was left of it, and walked out in a crazed daze.  
  
When he heard Rude and Elena's shouts from behind him, he twirled around and in a liquid motion, fired the gun aimless behind him where he saw their blured figures. Meaning to have missed and only ward them off, he turned back and ran the other way before they could get sight of him again.  
  
When he didn't hear his pursuers anymore he stopped, and fought his upcomming tears. This couldn't be it. He was supposed to be fearless, emotionless. What had become of him?!  
  
Yuffie...  
  
And then the realization hit him. He had just commited an unauthorized shinra murder!  
  
Fuck...  
  
~~~~  
Exciting last chapter? No? Well I wasn't planning it to be. The end was sort of a shock, right? I know, v.v it wasn't really.... Ah well, I tried. If anyone wants to try and finish the story then all you have to do is email me @ chibimousie@yahoo.com with your ff.net name and other information you think is appropriate and I'll tell you what information you need to know. Sayonara~ 


	12. Holy

Chapter Twelve  
  
Yuffie's eyes opened with a start. Where had all the water gone? Where was she? Was this some kind of dream?  
  
She reached down to pinch herself. It didn't hurt!  
  
So, this is a dream...  
  
She looked around. She was in Wutai, allright, and she looked ahead in horror at the house in front of her. Fearfully, she took a step back, but it was too late. A familiar figure pushed the sliding door open and leaned against the doorway, smirking evily at her.  
  
Reminds me of...Reno...  
  
But this was no Reno. She knew this man, and very well, she might add. Unfortunately. He just kept glaring at her, a bemused expression on his face, and she could see the fake pity oozing out of his look, knowing all too well what he was going to do.  
  
So Yuffie turned and ran as fast as she could, but just as soon as she had turned around and took a couple steps, he had somehow appeared right in front of her.  
  
Shit, almost forgot about his "powers".  
  
"Where do you think you're going?" he asked in wutain, the same bemused yet sorry look on his face. This almost made her cry out and punch him right in the gut, remembering all of the things he had done to her in the past, but something was holding her back.  
  
Instead, she just glared at him. "Trying to get away from you." she spat.  
  
Wrong words.  
  
Before she could get out of the way, the force making her stay in place, he drew back a hand and slapped her across the face. And hard. Very, very hard. Falling to the ground, she touched her cheek, which was now beet red, burning from the pain of the collision.  
  
Tears fell from the corner of her eyes, and she noticed now, that this was way too painful to be a dream. She hoped to dear god that she was just imagining the pain, and that she'd wake up soon; She'd hate to be stuck in a dream like this.  
  
Maybe this is Hell.  
  
Still in tears, he grabbed her by the collar and picked her up, nearly dragging her back into the house, and then slammed her against the wall, glaring at her through his feirce, green eyes. Just looking back at him made her tears flow even more.  
  
Damnit! I have to be strong, I must! I can't let him get to me like he used to...  
  
But I can't fucking help it!!!!!!  
  
"I'd like you to repeat what you just said, except, please alter it to my liking." he said to her, not taking his eyes off of her figure for a second.  
  
Yuffie didn't answer, focusing all of her energy on trying to keep her tears back, her attempts unsuccessful as they were.  
  
"Damnit! Stop fucking crying, you bitch." he said calmly.  
  
Furious, she drew back her foot and lunged her knee right into his crotch bitterly, enjoying the crunching sound she heard in reply. Fuming, he fell to his knees and glared back up at the young wutain ninja.  
  
"You...ugh...bitch..." he gasped.  
  
Yuffie stepped forward to get a better look at him and looked down over his body mercilessly. "Shut up." she said coldly, suprising even herself.  
  
"No," he replied. In a swift and liquid like motion, he was up again and dragging her by her hair to their room. Struggling frantically, she kicked at him and screamed in protest, but he threw her down onto the flat bed recklessly.  
  
Yuffie tried to roll out of the way as he dropped down to her, but he effortlessly held her down by her shoulders. Crying, she pleaded for him to stop, but he didn't listen, and just ripped at her clothes, laughing bitterly at her.  
  
When he was finally done with her clothes, he bended forward suddenly bit down hard onto her neck. Yuffie winced in pain as he did, and she knew he was no vampire.  
  
He's just doing this to give me more pain...  
  
By now she was all out of tears, but if she weren't, she'd still be at it. His teeth sunk down harder still, and then he finally let go and his head moved down towards her chest.  
  
Oh, god, please, no!  
  
And he bit down feircely, and her scream echoed all around her.  
  
The rest was a blur to her.  
  
  
Ugh...Now where am I?  
  
Her eyes opened weakily. She looked at her surroudings and all she saw was darkness, despite the little crack of light near the floor. She was in a closet, her wrists, all worn and bloody, were handcuffed to the hanger bar.  
  
"K'uso..." Yuffie swore, and struggled against the cuffs to get free. After a few minutes of aimless struggling, she hung quietly, out of breath and heaving for more.  
  
"Chikusho...Natsuke.." she cursed to herself.  
  
She heard the door open and close loudly. But what suprised her was the voice.  
  
"Yuffie!" he was panicked and worried, she could tell from the mere tone. Yuffie struggled, drawing his attention and she heard him run to the closet door. "Yuffie..." she heard him mutter, and the knob turned and Reno stood before her, a scared look on his face, looking weird against his glowing, mako eyes.  
  
She then realized that she was stripped naked and bruised in various places, and she immediantly blushed crimson.  
  
Ignoring her embarassment, he moved forward to help her out. "Baby..." he cooed, raising his nightstick to her wrists and stunning the handcuffs. She fell limp and into his arms, and he helped her stumble out of the closet. But before he could set her down, she hugged him, crying even harder then she had been before.  
  
He soothed her back comfortingly, stroking her gently, and she shivered in sobs in his chest, totally breaking down in front of him. But she didn't care. It was all over, anyway. She was in hell, and she knew she could never get out.  
  
"You're not in hell..." she heard him whisper softly into her ear. Firghtened, Yuffie pulled back and looked at him oddly, shivering from the feel of his cold breath on her ear. Reno smirked impishly at her and then he turned and leaned towards her and whispered, "...This is the lifestream..."  
  
She stumbled once more, out of his grasp and glared at him. "WHAT?!!!" she cried out, her glare thickening with her horrifically challenged set of eyes. "So you're...That wasn't really..." she looked around furiously as if someone were watching them, and then returned her glare towards him. "What the hell is going on?!!"  
  
"All that we are..." Reno began, looking at her empathetically, "...are memories. Your hopes, dreams. What you think of the most..." he looked down at the ground as if not looking at anything at all. "Sort of like creating your own after life." he finished.  
  
Yuffie looked at him skeptically, almost uncertain. "So I can do whatever I want and not get into any trouble?" she asked, a sly look playing on her face. "I can literally control my memory world?" as she spoke she walked over to the window and looked out. The entire house was covered by the lifestream by now! "I can be filthy rich, have anything I want, dress like a skank without even the slightest thought? And people would only care if I wanted them to?"  
  
Shaking his head, Reno strided over to her and stood behind her, looking out the window also. "It's not as easy as you think, doll face." he said with a small snicker.  
  
"What do you mean?" Yuffie asked, turning to face him.  
  
"Well, for starters, your sub conciousness, yours in particular," he added with a wink, "is usually quite wild and you can't control it easily. Thoughts happen before you can even register their meaning." he gave her a half smile in reassurance. "Get what I'm sayin'?"  
  
Yuffie sighed. "So, 'Natsuke' could do awful stuff to me all the time for eternity...." she looked up at him fearfully. "...Only because I loathe and think about my hatred to him?"  
  
He nodded. "You got it. See, we're only painful memories, except for me, of course." he winked at her again, "You think about your hatred towards Natsuke, you think about all the things he's done to you, and, badaboom, you find yourself looking at this in the mirror." he poked the bite mark on her breast.  
  
Blushing, Yuffie covered herself up with her arms, wishing she had some clothes....Wait!  
  
...She did? Wide eyed, she looked down at her new pair of shoes, dark green cargos, and a wool, green and long sleeved sweater. "It really does work..." she muttered to herself, still shaking from his touch.  
  
"That's what I told ya." Reno said matter of factly.  
  
Yuffie, her face suddenly turning sorrowful, looked up at him with a glint of hope in her eyes. "I want to go home." she whined.  
  
He mirrored her worried expression, reaching his hand up to caress her cheek gently. "Sorry, but you're stuck here." he replied bluntly.  
  
She grabbed his wristed and pulled it down roughly. "If I think hard enough then I can get out of here!" she stated defiantly, tears welling up in her dark brown eyes. "You said if I think hard enough then anything can happen here!"  
  
His eyes widened for a second, and then softened in amusement. "Yeah, 'here'." he corrected, trying his best not to laugh at her.  
  
"Well, I want to get out 'here'. I want to get the hell out of 'here', god damnit!" she grabbed his shirt by the collar and glared up at him, still teary eyed. "I can...can't I?" she asked, quivering.  
  
Reno looked at her for a brief moment at a loss for words. He studied her expression for a second or two, and then smirked. "I guess you could...but only you, this one time." he clasped his firm hands on her shoulders protectively. "You're an exception, along with that cetra." he took his hands off and looked at her dead seriously. "Now. Leave." he stated.  
  
Yuffie looked at him hesitantly. "Who are you...really?" she asked curiously.  
  
He bent forward and whispered to her, "I have no fucking idea." Before she could do anything to control it, everything around her disappeared in a brilliant flare...  
  
Who are you?!  
  
  
"It appears to be rainy again." Red observed  
  
"Doesn't take a genius to figure that out..." Cid grumbled. Even though he was supposed to be 'undercover', as Cloud had told them to be, he still didn't see how he looked different except for his outfit. He was wearing a white teeshirt, blue sweat pants, knee-high grey socks and black sketchers shoes, along with his goggles and a belt. He thought, personally, that he looked like a dork and he'd do anything to get this job over as fast as he could.  
  
But he had to admit that Vincent looked even scarier then before, to him, in his own disguise. He actually looked decent for once, which is what scared Cid the most. He had never seen Vincent dressed in anything besides his red cape outfit, which was now replaced with his old Turk outfit that he had worn long ago before he had met anyone in AVALANCHE.  
  
Red, on the other hand, couldn't be disguised at all. To put it bluntly, it was impossible to disguise a red, lion looking animal with a flaming tail.  
  
They had been traveling around Junon, okay, maybe it would be more accurate to say milling around, for what it seemed to be two or three hours. They were all bored, but they still had to keep a sharp eye out for anything susppicious. Or a magenta colored sorceress with bat wings and long tentacles. Either way, they knew that they'd spot it in a second if anything appeared to be wrong, and it would probably be connected to Jenova.  
  
"This is so fucking boring..." Cid said to himself.  
  
Red shook his head absentmindedly. "It wasn't meant to be fun." he replied. "But it can be fun if we make it that way." he added quickly at the sense of tension in the air.  
  
Cid pulled out a cig and lit it. "I don't see HOW all of this can be fun." he stated, and then put it in his mouth.  
  
Vincent glanced over in their direction, and then looked over his shoulder cautiously. He had the strangest feeling that they were being followed. Deciding to ignore it, he turned back towards the others and followed again.  
  
"We could play a little game." Red suggested thoughtfully.  
  
Cid just chuckled. "Heh, we're not kids, Red." he replied amusingly.  
  
Red scowled. "I may be thirteen in your human years but that doesn't mean I'm not mature. I mean like a little mini game, that's all. Like 'car' or 'truck', as you humans call it." he shot back, trying not make himself sound dumb.  
  
"What kind of game?" Cid asked, not even bothering to look back at him.  
  
Vincent glanced over his shoulder again. He kept sensing the same figure, and every moment he saw it more and more frequently in the heavy crowd behind them. But he still couldn't figure out what the hell it was!  
  
"Well, we can look around in the crowds and count all the people we see with mohawks." Red suggested with a smirk.  
  
Cid looked down at him in disbelief. "Was that a joke you just made?" he asked with a grin.  
  
Red laughed. "Afraid so." he replied. They kept walking, this time in silence. Vincent kept on glancing behind his shoulder, and he noticed that the crowd was gradually thinning out, mostly because it was getting later and later, and more people were probably getting home.  
  
"How many have you seen so far?" Red asked.  
  
Cid grinned to himself. "Four." he answered. "You?"  
  
"Six." Red replied. "There's two more over there near that coffee club."  
  
"Ah..." Cid began, and then noticed that the crowd had totally disappeared, despite the few groups of people that were hanging outside the local clubs and pubs. There was a sudden last clunk of somone's certain metal shoes, making Cid and Red stop right in their tracks.  
  
They both turned around to see Vincent standing there, a figure a few yards in front of him. It was a little girl, not more then six years old, with dirty blonde hair that hung to her shoulders, curly yet clean looking at the same time. She wore on herself a plain white dress, tattered and dirty from her long travels. But despite all of her faults, Vincent couldn't help but ignore the goddess like aura that surrounded the small child.  
  
Her bulging eyes just stared back at him innocently, as if prodding him to make the first move.  
  
"It's just a kid..." Red began, and crouched lower in hesitation. "...then why do I sense something different around it?!" he finished with a low growl.  
  
The girl took a step back in fear of Red, and looked horridly up at Vincent, waiting for the moment when he would tell the monster to destroy her.  
  
But he didn't.  
  
Cid patted Red on the head. "Be nice." he said, his tone sounding oddly like one of Aeris'. He walked past Vincent, and over to the kid. She hesitated, but then looked up at the old pilot curiously. Red followed close behind, and she looked like she was about to go off running, but Vincent came up to her too, behind Cid and Red. Unusually, she found the stone cold look on Vincent's face reassuring, as if telling her not to worry about the red lion right in front of her.  
  
Red leaned closer to her and sniffed at her hair, and then tried to smile, if whatever Red was could smile at all. "What is your name, young lady?" he asked politely.  
  
The girl looked at Red for a very long time before answering in a small and fearful voice.  
  
"Holy."  
  
Cid looked at the girl oddly and stooped himself down to her level. "Holy?" he asked. The girl once more gave him a curious look. "What kind of a name izzat?"  
  
Holy looked at him for a long before answering again.  
  
"I don't know." she finally replied.  
  
Then, Vincent finally threw a question at the young girl. "Why were you following us?" he questioned, and Cid stood up and got out of Vincent's way.  
  
"I don't know." Holy answered, a little quicker this time.  
  
It was Red's turn to ask another. "Where are you parents?" he asked.  
  
"I don't know."  
  
Cid sighed and stomped his foot on the ground in frustration. "Don't you know ANYTHING?!" he asked Holy, trying his best not to sound too angry.  
  
"I don't know." Holy replied. She honestly didn't know!  
  
Red looked up at the pilot. "She seems to like that phrase." he stated.  
  
"At least we have a name for her." Vincent replied, somewhat optimistically. Or at least as optimistic as a pale guy in a forbidding red cape could say.  
  
"Thanks for stating the obvious..." Cid muttered. Vincent just shrugged in reply.  
  
He sighed and looked down at Holy. "'Kay, kiddo." Cid began, "It's time to go back now... Do you want to follow us?" he asked.  
  
Holy looked at them all for a moment, surveying her situation. There weren't many places for her to go, and she surely didn't want to be alone. She nodded. "As long as you take Holy to her family." she said.  
  
Cid, Red, and Vincent all nodded back in return. Then the child grinned evily, a crazed look forming on her young, innocent face. "Holy knows the way baaaack!!!" she suddenly yelled out and ran right past them. They looked at her in suprise, and then took off running after her, not sure about where she was going.  
  
"Why are we following her?" Red asked. "I have a bad feeling about that girl."  
  
Vincent didn't even turn back to look at them as they followed the little girl. "Because, she may be our only hope to defeating Jenova." he replied.  
  
"Defeating Jenova?! This kid is bad news, I tell ya!" Cid shouted over to Vincent in a hysteric matter. "Where the hell did you get the idea that she could help us with Jenova?!"  
  
Then, all of the sudden, Holy stopped short and turned around to look at them. Cid, Vincent, and Red stopped themselves from running right over her and looked down at her. She looked up at them, her face concerned, not matching her own age at all. Holy's eyes narrowed, and after a long while of looking up at them she finally said.  
  
"Jenova?"  
  
Vincent looked over at Cid and Red. "Told you." he shot, sounding oddly unlike himself, and unlikely egotistical for himself. They just stared back at the man in disbelief.  
  
Holy shook her head and then looked back at them timidly. "Follow!" she said, and once again, took off. They kept up with her better this time, and noticed that she was leading them right back to the field out of Junon where the Highwind was parked.  
  
"That kid better not fucking kill us or you're in big trouble, batboy." Cid muttered under his breath.  
  
Vincent just shot him a smug grin in spite of his ghost like features. Cid's eyebrows rose in curiosity. Was Vincent actually enjoying their suspense?  
  
  
I'm alive.... I can't believe it worked...  
  
Yuffie forced her eyes to open, but her will to sleep was more stronger. Trying again, she found it was useless. She sighed and laid back down where she was. Wherever she was.  
  
She wiggled in the ground to try and get up again. Still no avail. At least she could tell from the wet, grainy feeling around her and the distant smell of stale salt that she was on a beach. And by the faint smell of smoke she could also tell she was near Junon.  
  
Not like that would do me any good...  
  
She heard sand move beside her as someone walked by. She immediantly called out for help, but all that came out of her mouth was a faint squeak. Almost as if on cue the figure that had been walking beside her stopped and she could sense them kneel down beside her.  
  
"What the fuck is a little cat doing out here?" she heard the figure mutter to themself.  
  
Cat? What cat?  
  
They figure prodded her with a twig, which made her angry. Yuffie finally built up her strength, mostly through willpower, and opened her eyes weakily, trying to focus them as best she could.  
  
Red...  
  
"Reno?!" she squeaked.  
  
Suddenly he lept back and almost fell over. "You can talk, too?!" he asked, more through suprise then fear. Yuffie nodded her head. Of couse she could talk, why couldn't she? Then his expression turned from suprise to anger. "How the hell do you know who I am?" he asked in a low growl, reaching for his gun.  
  
Yuffie kept quiet. She looked down at the ground... Which wasn't far down at all!  
  
Waitaminute.... -I'M- the cat!!!  
  
After she didn't answer, Reno just shrugged and mumbled something about loosing his mind as he stood up and walked away. Yuffie watched, silently contemplating her next action as his figure disappeared over a sand dune. She sighed, her shoulder low, and sat down. She couldn't just follow him, could she? What would he think of her if she was stuck as a cat forever?  
  
Maybe that's the price for comming back.... If it is I might as well be as good as dead to them if I can't be of any use.  
  
She didn't hear the sound of churning sand behind her, and the other cat came up behind her and sat down on the ground next to her. Yuffie was in too deep of thought to take notice in him, and just stared down at the ground sadly, almost emotionlessly.  
  
"Why didn't you follow him?"  
  
Yuffie nearly jumped when she heard the new voice. She snapped her head to her right and glared at the other cat. Then her glare ceased when she recognized him and she sighed once more. "How did you know it was me, Karasu?" she asked warily.  
  
If cats could smirk, Karasu would of done just that. "I can tell another omni if I see one" he replied. "So, why didn't you follow him?" he asked after a long, dead silence.  
  
"I'm probably stuck like this forever..." Yuffie replied.  
  
"No you're not."  
  
She looked over to him again. "Prove it." she demanded.  
  
Karasu then nudged her shoulder with one of his front paws. "We're twins. Omnichanged and all." he replied. "I'm a cat, you're a cat. Get it?"  
  
Yuffie looked at him questionably. "But I thought I omnichanged into some sort of she-devil or something like that?"  
  
Karasu shrugged. "Just go after him." he finally tried.  
  
Her eyes widened in suprise. "But I thought you hated Reno..." she trailed off.  
  
"You love him." Karasu stated, glaring deep into her eyes. "Go after him now, or I'll have t hurt ya."  
  
Yuffie nodded and took off over the dunes after Reno in a flash.  
  
A couple moments later, Karasu stood up, human and all, and headed back towards Junon. But not before looking once more in the direction that Yuffie had ran off to, he smiled, and then ran back to the rendevous point where the Highwind sat...  
  
  
What the fuck was I thinking? If any of the others find out what I did, they'd never live it down. It looks like I won't be accepted there ever again.  
  
Reno picked up a stray pebble that was next to leg and launched it out and across the vast water in front of him. He watched boredly as it skipped several times before plunging itself into the water.  
  
"Maybe that's what I should do..." he mumbled to himself. "I don't think I can take any more of this..." he trailed off as he concentrated on the surface in front of him, as if waiting to see the rock pop up out of nowhere and see it live again.  
  
"So you're just going to give it all up?" a small voice asked from behind him. He didn't even bother to turn to see who it was. He didn't care. "Are you just going to give it all up like that little rock and just plunge into your own death?"  
  
Reno smirked to himself and snickered. "Tch. Not like anyone's gunna miss me." he replied darkly.  
  
Then the small cat that he had encountered earlier pranced up to him and sat itself right in front of him, glaring up into his eyes. "I will." it replied, tear welling up in its eyes as it tried to hold them back.  
  
Reno raised an eyebrow. He had never seen a cat cry before. "Who the hell are you?!" he demanded suddenly, grabbing the cat and holding it up to his eyelevel. The cat, too afraid to answer, just whimpered fearfully. Reno glared at it and shook it violently. "Tell me, damnit, or I swear I'll..."  
  
The next thing he knew a pair of arms had wrapped themselves around his waist, holding something against him, sobbing pitifully. He looked down at who it was, and noticed that the cat was gone. In its place was an angel... Or something like it.  
  
It's the closest thing I have to one...  
  
Reno stroked Yuffie's hair comfortingly, trying to shush her. "It's gunna be allright, kid. Don't worry." but she didn't stop crying, she just broke out into more confused sobs. He sighed and wrapped his arms around her as well, rocking her back in forth and stroked her back, whispering to her that everything was going to okay.  
  
"I'm so sorry, Reno..." Yuffie managed to choke out between sobs. "I'm so sorry I didn't listen to you... I'm nothing but a pain in your side, aren't I?"  
  
Reno shuddered, trying to hold back his own tears. He was supposed to be the tough guy, right?  
  
Then why do I want to cry? Why do I feel that I can cry around her? Why would she be a pain in my side at all? If anything I'd be a pain in -her- side!  
  
He pushed her away from him enough so that he could look her straight into the eye. Yuffie's face was red and stained with tears, her eyes pink and her hair like a mop. She really looked like she had gone through a beating! This made him even more sorry.  
  
"Don't be sorry, babe..." Reno whispered. "There was no way either of us could stop it. You were out of control..." Yuffie broke into another fit of sobs and clung to him tightly. He patted her on the head with a smirk. "I would of done the same thing if that had happened to me."  
  
Yuffie stopped crying and nodded, trying to regain her control. "Thanks..." she began, but before she could finish her sentence he lifted her chin up with one of his scarred hands.  
  
His eyes studied her for a moment, as if he were in deep thought. Reno pulled her closer, so close that their noses touched. "What happened to you...?" he asked, his voice full of regret. "Where did you go?"  
  
Yuffie only smiled back. "To hell and beyond." she replied, and then leaned forward, kissing him gently.  
  
A few moments later they both let go and Reno looked at her, confused. "Why can't you tell me where you've been?" he asked.  
  
She just leaned against him with a romantic daze in her eyes. "Oh, you wouldn't wanna know, silly." she replied.   
  
But instead of shutting up like she had planned him to, he asked her, er, demanded of her to tell him, "Tell me what happened to you, god damnit!"  
  
Yuffie looked up at him, wide eyed. He almost sounded desperate, like it was really that big of a deal. Then she smiled again. "Okay, I was in the lifestream." she replied. Reno was about to comment, but Yuffie held her right index finger to his lips. "I'm only back because you wanted me to come back, don't you remember?"  
  
Reno looked at her, confused. "Remember what?" he asked dumbly.  
  
She sighed and leaned against his shoulder again, looking at the sky. "You'll find out tonight when you go to sleep..." she mumbled. "Your subconscience..." she trailed off as she fell asleep.  
  
"Yuffie!!" Reno demanded, shaking her. "Wake up and tell me what the fuck you mean by that!!!" Yuffie didn't wake up. He sighed.  
  
I should of known better, she's probably too tired from doing whatever she did.  
  
He looked at her sleeping form and smiled to himself.  
  
Damn. I'm lucky to have an angel for a girlfriend.  
  
Reno then picked her up and started to walk back to the city. He didn't have much time left until the others decided to leave...  
  
  
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE LITTLE SHIT IS GONE?!!!"  
  
Elena winced as Cid yelled at her and Rude. She hated being yelled at, especially when nothing was even her fault.  
  
"He just needed some time alone." Rude said. "Let him be for a while, a lot has happened in the past couple days. If he wants to come back then he'll find us. He always has a way."  
  
"...That's bullshit." Cid muttered under his breath and then turned to the little girl.  
  
Aeris noticed her and perked up. "Well, who are you, little girl?" she asked.  
  
"Holy."  
  
Aeris nearly fell backwards in shock.  
  
SHE is Holy?!  
  
Reeve had just gotten finished with filling Cloud in on what had happened with the Magus sisters and everything else that had happened on their own little trip. Cloud instantly looked over at the little girl when he heard the name, Holy, being spoken.  
  
"So, this little kid is Holy?" Cloud asked.  
  
"Seems so." Red replied.  
  
Tifa kneeled down to Holy's eye level and smiled. "Hello there. My name is Tifa." she introduced herself.  
  
Holy smiled back. "My name is Holy!" she cheered.  
  
This child is too cute to be powerful...  
  
"What do you think you're alive to do?" Tifa asked.  
  
Cloud came up behind Tifa and tapped her on the shoulder. Tifa looked up at Cloud timidly and he looked at her critically. "Isn't that question a little too in depth for a little kid?" he asked.  
  
Tifa just shrugged.  
  
"I am here to destroy Jenova." Holy replied, her voice hallow and emotionless.  
  
There was a long period of silence.  
  
"This is TERRIBLE!" Aeris said, finally breaking the silence.  
  
They all turned to her. "What do you mean?" Tifa asked. "Is there something wrong?"  
  
Aeris looked over at the brunette worridly. "Of COURSE there's something wrong!!! There is something terribly wrong!" she extended her arm and pointed down at Holy, who just cocked her head to the side curiously. "THIS is what all of those shooter movies are doing to kids!"  
  
Cid scratched the back of his head. "Aiee... If that's what ya think." he replied after another long moment of silence, breathing out smoke.  
  
Holy just looked at Aeris, confused. "Shoo...ter...moo..vies?" she asked. "What are...shooter moovies, Aeris?"  
  
Vincent just sighed. "Nevermind, Holy." he replied for Aeris, and then looked over to Tifa.  
  
Cloud looked over at her, too. "How is she going to destroy Jenova?" he asked. Tifa just shrugged and looked down at Holy. She stared back at her as if she didn't understand the question, and in turn Tifa sighed, too.  
  
Looking over at Red, she then asked him, "Do you know how Holy, exactly, is going to destroy Jenova?"  
  
Red's good eye flickered with mirth and he cleared his throat. "Well," he began, "I have heard a legend about a wish of the planet's that came to life."  
  
"A wish of the planet's?" Reeve asked.  
  
Red nodded in agreement. "Yes. You see..." Red then pounced off of his perch on one of the seats and padded his way over to Holy. "Whenever you use a materia you call to the planet. All that materia is are little orbs...like a telephone, as you would call it. Every time you use a materia, what you're really, mentally, doing is wishing for the spell to work. And by that the planet grants your wish."  
  
"So, basically what you're saying is that we could wish ANYTHING to happen through ANY materia and if it was good enough then the planet would grant it?" Elena asked.  
  
Red snickered. "Not exactly." he replied. "When Aeris wished for Holy to come the first time---"  
  
"That's me!" Holy chimed in.  
  
"...The planet only granted her wish because it was its final hope. And the white materia is special, because it can teleport any wishes granted from the Cetra that is holding it to the planet with ease. But, the planet can decline the wish, so be careful. Also, regular materia, like summons, magic, skills, and support materia, are more harder to reach the planet out of their normal skills. Certain materia have certain boundries. Like you can only summon a chocobo with a chocobo/mog materia, or a quadra magic materia only lets you cast four spells and not five or six..." he looked over the rest of the group. "Get it?"  
  
"Damn, man, I get it and all, but hell, it all sounds confusing!" Barret exclaimed. "Awell, it's not like I'm gunna need that information anyways."  
  
"Uhm, Red?" Aeris asked. "What does any of this have to do with Holy?"  
  
"That's me!" Holy chimed again.  
  
"Oh yeah, almost forgot about that." Red admitted sheepishly. "The planet, as we all know, is in very great danger at the moment. So, what does it do? Summons Holy, of course. Now, as the legend says, long ago when Jenova first appeared on earth she did some great damage, even blew a whole right on the top of the planet when she first appeared. But before she had landed, there was already an evil there trying to suck the lifestream out of the planet, and she just made things worse. When she landed, she went on an all-out homocidal spree." Red hung his head. "She killed the old evil with one, swift blow, and then opened up the crater even more. Everyone on the planet thought they were done for, doomed. Jenova had been sucking the lifestream energy right out of the planet for six, long years, until she was down to its last power source."  
  
"The Promised Land..." Cloud muttered.  
  
Red nodded to him. "The Promised Land." he confirmed. "But when Jenova got there, the planet had already divised a plan of action. As soon as she stepped foot into the Promised Land..."  
  
"That was when I first opened my eyes!!!" Holy cheered. Everyone else looked at her in disbelief. "There was this eeeevil, tentacled monster!" she spread her arms to emphasize how tall Jenova had appeared then. "She was verrrrry tall, and mean looking! And the planet told me that it was mean and was bullying her around by taking its life energy!" Holy's eyes were brushed slightly with a crimson color. "It made me so mad when I heard this, that I broke free from the cold soil I was embeded in and...and... I..."  
  
Everyone looked at her in fearful, edge-of-their-seat glares.  
  
"I don't remember what happened after that!!!" she cried, holding her head in frustration.  
  
"Lotta good that did." Cid mumbled to himself. Tifa shot him an angry glare and he shut up, but not without saying, "Well it didn't!"  
  
"Well, there was a big explosion" Red said after another moment of silence. "Whatever you did, Holy, it must of been real lethal."  
  
Holy giggled. "I know!" she replied. "Holy was very mad at the Jenova-monster... So Holy kicked their butt, teehee!"  
  
Cloud ruffled Holy's curly hair. "That was a good thing you did." he complemented. "But, do you think you could do it again?" he asked.  
  
She looked up at him with her huge, childish eyes. "Of course!" she replied. "Anything for Miss Planet... She's done so much for me!"  
  
"Miss Planet?" Reeve asked. "I didn't know the planet had a gender..."  
  
"Of COURSE she does!!!" Holy cried. "The planet is a living being, too! She's our mother and you should talk better about her!"  
  
Reeve gulped in suprise at the little girl's outburst. "Y...Yes, ma'am." he replied. Holy just giggled at his formality.  
  
Rude looked around the room and sighed. "Where the hell is he?" he asked himself aloud.  
  
Barret looked over to him, a gleam of hatred in his eyes. "I don't know, and I could care less. We're not waiting for that foo' anyways, so he better get his ass on da plane quick or we're leavin' widout him!" he said dangerously.  
  
He looked over at the big man. Barret was a good couple inches taller then him, but it didn't scare him one bit. He had learned thus far in his years of being a turk that size never mattered, just the strength. He knew that Barret was a very strong man, but he also knew that the others would never let Barret attack him unless he did something very bad.  
  
He wasn't planning on to, at least.  
  
Vincent turned to face Cloud. Cloud nodded in return, his expirience with the ex-turk telling him exactly what he needed to know. "We're going to the moon." he said.  
  
At the moment Cid was in the middle of inhaling a puff of smoke and literally gagged and choked on it. "The...the MOON?!!!" he exclaimed.  
  
Cloud nodded. "That's where Jenova is." he replied.  
  
"Why the fuck is that little shit on the MOON?!" Cid asked horridly. "What's the moon gotta do with any of this!?"  
  
"The moon and the planet have a relationship...A connection." Cloud explained. "So she probably figured that if she drew the moon's lifestream energy then it would also connect to the planet's lifestream energy and drag it away with its own."  
  
"So it's kinda like two birds with one stone?" Tifa asked.  
  
"Hmm?" Holy asked herself as she noticed the crack in the door to the engine room.  
  
"Yeah." Cloud replied. He turned to Aeris. "Is it true that the planet and the moon are connected?" he asked.  
  
Aeris nodded. "That's why they rotate with each other. They have some sort of bond or something." she replied.  
  
Holy silently crept out of the view of the others and towards the door.  
  
"Isn't that called gravity?" Barret asked.  
  
She slipped through the door so silently that not even Vincent noticed she was gone.  
  
Aeris looked at him curiously. "Yeah, I guess that's what you could also call it." she replied matter-of-factly.  
  
Cid chuckled. "Well, then!" he declared, turning to the others. "To the moon!"  
  
  
Karasu sat on the edge of the platform, looking at the noisy engine below, noting all of its movements and admiring how it just kept on working and doing what its boss told it to do without a care in the world.  
  
I wish I were like that...  
  
Hurridly, he jammed his dirty, scarred hands into his pocket and ripped out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. As he held one up to light it, the slight change in lighting behind him almost made him jump. Then, a little girl with dirty blonde hair in a tattered dress sat down on the edge beside him, looking at Karasu with big, innocent eyes.  
  
"What do you want?" he asked grouchily.  
  
Holy looked at him with suprise as he put the cigarette to his lips and quickly batted it out of his grip. They both watched as the cigarette fell silently to the engine below.  
  
Karasu glared at her. "What the hell did you do that for?!" he exclaimed.  
  
"Smoking is bad." Holy replied. "It hurts the planet."  
  
Karasu raised an eyebrow at her. "Why the hell would it hurt the planet? It just hurts me, not the planet." he shot back.  
  
Holy looked at him as if he had a third arm. "The planet feels your pain!" she said desperately, looking him straight into his eyes. "Don't you know?!"  
  
Karasu just looked at her like she was crazy. "Who are you?" he asked.  
  
"Holy." she simply replied.  
  
"What are you, some sort of fucked up tree hugger?"  
  
Holy just shrugged. Apparently she didn't know what Karasu's vocabulary meant.  
  
Karasu sighed. Here, this kid had gone out of her way just to talk to him! What the hell was wrong with him? Wasn't he supposed to be a nice guy?  
  
"What the hell is UP with me lately?!" he thought to himself aloud.  
  
Holy giggled. "I don't know, but whatever it is...." Karasu glared over at her. Her smile just grew brighter, still. "Karasu-kun must have his heart fixed!"  
  
"How do you know it has something to do with my heart?" he asked, suprised that he was actually having an intellectual conversation with a little kid. And a girl, at that. He was never really good with girls.  
  
She shrugged. "Because...You're sad!" she finally replied. "Karasu-kun is sad in the kind of way to be said if Karasu-kun lost something!!!" she took hold of both os his arms and looked up at him and into his eyes desperately. "Karasu-kun! Listen to Holy! Let Holy help you, please?"  
  
Karasu just looked back at her, unsure of what to say.  
  
"Let Holy help Karasu-kun be the way Karasu-kun was once before!"  
  
He sighed again and looked down at the ground, removing his hands from Holy's grip and sagging his shoulders heavily. For a long time there was silence, and the tension between the two grew and grew until Holy couldn't stand it anymore. She leaned closer to him, trying to grab his attention, but his gaze wasn't altered the least bit.  
  
Finally, he spoke.  
  
"You can't help me, kid." he replied darkly. "Nobody can help me now. I'm just a dumbass stuck on this world just waiting to rot. There's no hope for a creep like me."  
  
Holy gasped and took hold of his arm again, shaking him violently. "That's not true, that can't be true! Karasu-kun no die! Holy doesn't want Karasu-kun dieeee!!!!"  
  
After her violent shake, Karasu looked over to her trying his best not to release even the slightest bit of emotion. He had to admit, the kid was adorable. "What can you do, then, might I ask?" he questioned.  
  
Holy smiled. "Holy thought Karasu-kun would never ask!" she replied. "All that Karasu-kun has to do is think about the person who left him!" she said, grabbing hold of his arm again. "Holy will feel Karasu-kun's lifestream energy and Holy will heal!!!"  
  
Karasu's stone cold face finally broke into a smile. "You really think you could do such a thing? Heal me?" he asked.  
  
She nodded.   
  
"Mmmmhmm!!!"  
  
"Okay..." he replied, and then closed his eyes and thought...  
  
  
The sky shone above, the starts scattered and bright, the moon ruling over all of the beings on the earth. It was clear, and it was perfect. A nice, warm, summer breeze flew past Karasu as he stood outside of the old, wutain styled inn, his cape flowing with it behind him. He sighed in dismay and took it off, sitting down on the porch.  
  
"Damn, I'm bored." he thought aloud. "Maybe I should go see if Rufus is up to anything funny..."  
  
"Well, I'm not, so shove it birdboy."  
  
Karasu swirled around and in a liquid like motion was in front of Rufus in the next second. Rufus' eyes widened, but then suddenly darkened. "Why are you always so against me, anyhow?" he asked.  
  
"You're from Shinra." Karasu simply replied, turning the other way. "How the hell can I trust a slime like you?"  
  
"Heh."  
  
He turned back to Rufus. "'Heh'? What's so 'heh'?" he asked, feeling insulted.  
  
Rufus leaned against a support board, mocking Reno, and crossed his arms. "It's just funny..The way you're so...naiive." he answered casually.  
  
"Naiive about what?!" Karasu quickly asked.  
  
They had known each other for only a week or so, but Karasu had already grown feelings for the President. There was just something about him. There just had to be something there!  
  
"Get the hell out of my way." Rufus muttered, shoving Karasu out of the way and heading for the hot springs nearby.  
  
Karasu just smirked.  
  
He wasn't sure if it was either friendship or hatred, but it was something. There had to be! He was actually happy being around Rufus...And something like that was totally rare for him. He wasn't really the social type.  
  
Rufus blushed inwardly to himself as he shoved Karasu to the side. He hadn't meant to shove him too hard, but he did stumble, and that made him feel bad for some odd, queasy reason. He wasn't even his type!  
  
So Rufus stopped in midstep. Nobody had moved for a long and dull moment.  
  
Finally, he turned to Karasu. "So...sorry." he finally appologized. Karasu looked at him as if he were insane, which made him add quickly, "I was hoping you'd fly right into the wall!!!" and with that he turned tail and ran, leaving poor Karasu standing there, flabberghasted.  
  
"I think he likes ya."  
  
Karasu turned around to come face to face with his twin sister, Yuffie Kisaragi. Immediantly he blushed. "But he's a guy..." he stammered. "That's...I mean.."  
  
Yuffie just laughed at his futility. "You know that I know that you're straight, Karasu-kun!" she giggled. "Face it, you like other guys!" a small hint of mirth, which she had picked up from Reno, gleamed in her eyes.  
  
His face turned a deeper shade of red as he looked down at the ground shyly. Then, a sudden, sad feeling weaved itself into his heart and stabbed him inwardly. There was no way he was ever going to be able to tell Rufus, and he knew that. It was just too hard...  
  
"What's wrong?" Yuffie's small voice asked, breaking his trance.  
  
"He'll never know." Karasu answered, turning to her.  
  
Yuffie's face fell when she noticed the sad tilting of his eyes and looked him straight in the eyes, almost confrotingly. "Aw, common." she began. "Don't get all soft with me, bro." her smile brightened. "Tell him!"  
  
"But..I can't possibly..." Karasu shot back.  
  
"Common!! Tell him!" Yuffie persisted in a whining, prodding tone.  
  
Karasu sighed. "Yuffie, you don't know how hard it is. Unlike you and Reno, who were meant to be together by nature and all, it's harder for a guy to ask another guy out..." he sulked sadly, his shoulders bearing the burden of his years of solitude. "It's just not as easy as you think it is. I mean, what if he's not..." he trailed off.  
  
Yuffie burst out laughing as if there were no tomorrow.  
  
Karasu looked at his sister, raising an eyebrow, an expression plastered on his face as if she was the craziest person he'd ever met. "What's so funny?!" he exclaimed. "Why are you laughing at me???"  
  
Whiping her tears away, Yuffie looked back at him, grinning. "You really -are- naiive." she said. "Didn't you see Rufus earlier? He was checking out Reno for chrissakes!!!"  
  
"How do you know that? And how does that help me?"  
  
She smirked. "I can just tell, okay? And that means that he's not straight either. I mean, it's pretty obvious." she answered.  
  
There was a long pause and Karasu pondered this newly found information.  
  
Finally, he nodded to her. "Okay, if you say so, sis." he replied, then walked past her and patted Yuffie on the shoulder. "But if your wrong, it's your head that'll be rolling." he concluded jokingly, and walked around the corner after Rufus.  
  
"I hope not." Yuffie squeaked.  
  
  
Karasu slowly opened his eyes, only to meet with Holy's innocent gaze. She was so close to him, so close that it made him seem a little uncomfortable.  
  
Shaking her head, Holy snapped herself out of her trance and smiled wildly at Karasu. "Is that all?" she asked.  
  
This made Karasu a tad pissed off. "What do you mean!?" he yelled at her. "He was practically everything to me, damnit!" Holy backed up, scared. When Karasu noticed this, he stopped and looked at her more warmly. "S...Sorry..." he appologized.  
  
Holy giggled. "Karasu-kun want a pet Impy?" she asked.  
  
Karasu raised an eyebrow. "Why would I want an Imp? Surely you don't think it could take Rufus' place..." he began, but Holy put a finger to his lips.  
  
"Karasu-kun, you're funny!" she snickered. "Holy give Karasu-kun an Imp and Karasu-kun will like it, understand?!"  
  
He nodded back slowly, then smiled to himself. He should be greatful. This kid was trying to cheer him up, so why not give her a chance?  
  
Holy kneeled down onto the floor and cupped her hands, whispering a spell. Karasu looked at the little girl curiously, unsure of what he should do. Should a girl so young be learning witchcraft? He heard it wasn't healthy.  
  
His eyes widened suddenly as he noticed what she was saying.  
  
"Please, Planet, please..." she mumbled. "Please grant my plea. Please make Karasu-kun an Imp so he should not be sad anymore..." she paused for a moment. "Karasu-kun deserves some happiness, too, Planet..." she smiled to herself. "Please help me, Planet. Please help him, Planet..." she trailed off.  
  
There was a long pause of anticipation before she got up to her feet again, the same, wild grin plastered on her face. She almost looked like Yuffie, which made Karasu smile to himself. Holy then pranced over to Karasu and grabbed his hand. "Come, come!" she prodded. "Holy will now show Karasu-kun his new friend!"  
  
"W...wait--" Karasu was cut off when Holy started to drag him towards the dock. "What do you think you're doing?!"  
  
"Taking Karasu-kun to his new friend, of course!" Holy yelled back as soon as they ran out onto the dock, the howling wind making it almost impossible for Karasu to understand her.  
  
Then, all of the sudden, Holy stopped and looked over the railing in awe. Karasu came up to her side and tugged on her shoulder. "Maybe we should go...You could fall off the edge." he pointed out. Something, then, caught his eye and he gasped, looking down at the earth below.  
  
"MOTHER PLANET!!!" Holy cried desperately. "SOMETHING'S HURTING HER!!!" she turned to Karasu and dug her head into his chest, crying. "Mama..." she sobbed.  
  
Suprised, all Karasu could do was soothe the poor girl. He was never really good with kids, but it was the only thing he could do. But his eyes were still fixed on the planet below...  
  
  
"Fuck..." Reno swore. "They left without us..."  
  
A gentle stir from the bundle in his arms made his attention turn to Yuffie. He had been carrying her for the past half hour due to her sleeping state. Not that it was much of a bother to him, at any rate, he practically enjoyed holding her.   
  
"What's wrong...?" she mumbled sleepily.  
  
He smirked. "Go back to sleep, darling." he cooed jokingly.  
  
"Shaddup." Yuffie replied. "What the hell is going on?"  
  
"Your little friends left without saying goodbye." he answered, looking up in the sky at the Highwind. Yuffie grunted in reply. "Look up if you don't believe me." he challenged.  
  
Yuffie did. "Heeey!!" she yelled, seemingly up at them, now fully awake. "That's not fair!!!" she struggled to get out of Reno's grip, but he held her tight. "Lemme go, damnit, I gotta catch up with them!" she protested.  
  
"No omnichanging today, babe." Reno stated, looking her seriously in the eye. "Especially after our previous little incident."  
  
Yuffie stuck her tongue out at him. "Asshole." she muttered. Reno just snickered. "Now what do we do?" she asked in a more whiney, childish tone.  
  
A perverted twinkle in his eyes made Yuffie protest again.  
  
"Grossness!" she whined.  
  
Reno held her closer, almost cuddling. "We've done it before..." he whispered in her ear.  
  
Yuffie's face turned totally red, her cheeks turning hot. "But...But we have more important things to do now, damnit!" she squeaked, squirming in his grip childishly. A little speck of aquamarinish liquid that had splashed onto her shoulder alerted her and she looked at it. "Oh my gawd, it's cold!!"  
  
Reno inspected her shoulder more closely. "That's fucked..." he mused. "Isn't that part of the lifestream?" he asked.  
  
Yuffie's eyes widened suddenly when she noticed something forming upwards behind Reno. Stammering, she pointed to it and he just gave her a questioning look. "R..R...Reno..." she began, but, getting the picture he turned around.  
  
In front of them both they saw a long, narrow, stringy stream of the lifestream raising upwards from the earth. They also noticed a few other spots around them forming upwards too, breaking out of the earth like it was an egg.  
  
Reno held her closer, still. "We need to get out of her." he stated.   
  
Yuffie nodded, shakily. "I don't wanna go back, Reno..." she pleaded. "Please don't let me go back...please.." she suprisingly found herself choking in sobbing fits. "I wanna be with you..."  
  
He nodded. "In order to get out of here, I'll need you to omnichange and carry us both up to the Highwind." he said.  
  
Her eyes grew with innocence. "But I thought you said..." she trailed off as Reno put a finger to her lips.  
  
"Just do it." he replied.  
  
Yuffie nodded in confirmation. "Okay! I'll do my best, Reno!" she cheered, a smile shakily forming on her face. She then sagged her head in concentration, her eyes narrowed and glowing. Reno gently set her down and stepped aside, looking around carefully at the streams around them. They were getting bigger, and he wasn't sure how much time they had before it was too late. He looked back over to her, and she had already grown her wings, her scales starting to settle into her patterned skin.  
  
Reno walked over to her and picked her up again, and before he knew it her claws had shot out and her transformation was complete. "Reno, ya ready?" her voice echoed. Reno nodded, his trademark smirk on his face again. Yuffie smiled back. "Let's go!" and with that, she swooped her wings and lifted both of them off the ground with ease.  
  
Right when they were about twenty feet up in the air, a stream of lifestream swarmed right into their path, and Yuffie quickly dodged out of the way sharply, causing Reno to slip. "Hold on tight!" she warned. "I don't think this is going to be as easy as we thought it was."  
  
He nodded, and renewed his grip, tighter then ever. Something caught his eye, and noticed it was an individual blob of the lifestream comming right at them at lightning speed. "Yuff!!" he shouted. "Behind you!!"  
  
Yuffie quickly dived to the right, but they were too late, and it hit Yuffie right in the side, hard, sending both of them sprawling through the air. Yuffie quickly regained herself, and, even with the pressure on her side as Reno clinged to her tightly, found the strength to spread her wings again and flapped weakily upwards.  
  
"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea..." she muttered.  
  
"Of course it was a good idea." Reno snapped back, wincing as they dodged another part of the lifestream. "Even if it wasn't we're going to get through this, and you wanna know why?" he asked.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because no matter what happens we'll still be together." he replied.  
  
Yuffie sighed. "Ugh, damnit Reno. It's not like you to get emotional." she muttered. "You're starting to scare me!"  
  
Reno smirked. "That's my job." he shot back, snickering. Then, something started to climb up Reno's leg. "What the f..." he trailed off when he saw what it was.  
  
"What's wrong, Reno?" Yuffie asked.  
  
A little, purple, fuzzy monster had crawled up onto his shoulder and clung to his shirt. "Can I come along?" it squeaked.  
  
Reno looked over to it. "This ain't a free flight, Impy." he countered. "Get your own omnichanging ninja chick."  
  
Yuffie grumbled in distaste at the pet name.  
  
"Just cuz you don't work for me any more doesn't mean you hafta to be so rude, Reno."  
  
Reno's and Yuffie's eyes widened.  
  
"RUFUS?!" they both asked in astonishment.  
  
"The one and only." he replied confidently. "Though...I don't know why I'm so little. Something like...called me up or something. I dunno."  
  
Reno sighed as they dodged another one. "Just hold on and we'll get you to the Highwind in no time. Then we can ask that stupid spikey headed ass what the hell's going on." he grumbled.  
  
Rufus nodded. "Okay, whatever."  
  
  
"Hey, Holy?" Karasu asked. She looked up at him, teary eyed. "What's that?" he pointed out a small object heading towards them.  
  
Her face brightened up and turned to look. Then, her eyes changed to a curious look. "I have no idea..." she answered.  
  
They watched as it got nearer, and Karasu brightened up himself when he noticed who it was. It was Yuffie!! And Reno! And...  
  
"Who the hell.." he trailed off.  
  
"Impy!" Holy cheered happily. "Planet did care, yes she did!"  
  
Yuffie came flying up to the dock and landed gracefully. Then she stumbled and fell over. "Owww..." she winced.  
  
"Ow is right, damnit..." Reno grunted. "Get offa me."  
  
Yuffie squirmed, but she couldn't find the strength to get up. Instead the result she got was the loss of her wings, claws and scales. Too tired, she plopped back down, practically half asleep. "Too tired..." she muttered.  
  
The little imp jumped out of the pile and into Karasu's arms, snuggling against him, purring. Karasu's eyes widened in suprise as he looked at it dumbfoundedly. "What the hell are you?" he asked.  
  
"I'm an imp." Rufus shot.  
  
"And a cool imp, at that!" Holy giggled, scratching its head, making Rufus' eyes turn into sleepy slits. "Karasu, this is the impy I asked for Planet to make you!"  
  
Rufus' eyes opened widely. "Whoa, wait a minute. Make?" he asked.  
  
Karasu looked at the imp directly in the eyes. As he did, a big smile had formed on his face at the knowledge he had just regained.  
  
"RUFUS!!!" he cried, hugging the imp even tighter.  
  
"OW...." Rufus cringed. "Uh, Karasu? Rufus can't breath..."  
  
Holy giggled at the cuteness of the scene. This was the first time she had ever seen Karasu so happy in the past half hour that she had known him. Then, her attention turned to the squabbling couple to the left.  
  
"The least you could do is roll to the side!"  
  
"Neh...Sleepy..."  
  
"Yuuuuffieeeee..."  
  
"Zuzuzuzuzuzuzu..."  
  
"Wake up, damnit!!!"  
  
"Naw..."  
  
"Ugh."  
  
  
  
Chuu: I LIVE!!!! Oh my gawd, the middle part of this chapter, where Red had to explain everything, was SO boring to type! That's why it took so long ;_; Sorry, minna-san. The rest of the story should be over pretty quick, cuz we're getting up to the non-stop action chapters! And it should be very fun to write, too, so I'll try to get it done by the end of the year(yeah, bet ya head that before XP) Just another one of my aimless goals. Also, sorry about the notice on the last chapter. I was a little down in the dumps vv; Well, review if you wanna! I don't mind, but I'd really like to hear from anyone who's read it (whether good or bad, I could care less!) Ciow~! 


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